Main contenders push ahead at Westlake
Western Province is on the attack, log leaders Central Gauteng are in the driver’s seat and Ekurhuleni fought back to tie Boland as the third round A-Section Foursomes wrapped up at the 54th South African Inter-Provincial, sponsored by Tempest, on Wednesday.
After a first round loss to Central Gauteng, Western Province got their groove back against Ekurhuleni in round two and is hunting back-to-back success against Southern Cape at Westlake Golf Club.
The host union won three of the games to forge 3-1 ahead to take a two point lead into the Singles.
Cameron Johnston and Ian Snyman hammered Ivan Williams and Henk Geldenhuys 6&5 to draw first blood, but Staffie Barnard and Jacques Cloete squared the match with a 3&1 win over Province skipper, Werner Theart and Drew Denyer.
Aaron Russell and Luke Trocado downed Nicholas Mitchell and Jovan Rebula 2-up to put Province 2-1 ahead and the final pairing of Gerlou Roux and Altin van der Merwe sealed the advantage when they defeated Breyten Meyer and Jade Buitendag 2-up.
“The guys gave us the solid start we need today, because this is a must-win day for us,” said manager Henk Smit. “The last game was very tight and went all the way to the 18th, but Altin knocked in a 20-footer for birdie to give us a nice cushion to take into the Singles.”
Boland claimed the first and squared games the second against Ekurhuleni.
Ekurhuleni won the third game to take a one point edge and finished the Foursomes with 2.5 points after Tristen Strydom and Paul Boshoff wrapped up a 1-up win in the final game.
In the final match, Central Gauteng leads Gauteng North by three points.
Christoff Els and Leon Scheepers raised half a point when they squared the first game against Andi Dill and Gareth Clements and the defending champions will have to pull out all the stops in the Singles to deflect a third successive loss.
A-DIVISION FOURSOMES RESULT – Round Two
Western Province 3.0 vs Southern Cape 1.0
Cameron Johnston / Ian Snyman beat Ivan Williams / Henk Geldenhuys 6 & 5;
Werner Theart / Drew Denyer lost to Staffie Barnard / Jacques Cloete 3 & 2;
Aaron Russell / Luke Trocado beat Nicholas Mitchell / Jovan Rebula 3 & 2;
Gerlou Roux / Altin van der Merwe beat Breyten Meyer / Jade Buitendag 2Up;
Ekurhuleni 2.5 vs Boland 1.5
Bryce McCabe / Teagan Moore lost to Philip Spies / Meyer Pauw 2 & 1;
NJ Arnoldi / Jason Froneman halved with Jaco Spies / Herman Loubser;
Angus Ellis-Cole / Stefan Cronje beat Karl Ochse / Jacques de Villiers 2 & 1;
Tristen Strydom / Paul Boshoff beat Armandt Scholtz / Trevor Mahoney 1Up;
Gauteng North 0.5 vs Central Gauteng 3.5
Christoff Els / Leon Scheepers halved with Gareth Clements / Dill;
Philip Kruse / Keegan de Lange lost to Marco Steyn / Meyers 4 & 3;
Hendrikus Stoop / Andrew van der Knaap lost to Michael Dixon / Darin de Smidt 4 & 3;
Teaghan Gauche / Jason Smith lost to Louis Taylor / Matthew Spacey 3 & 2;
Written and released by Lali Stander on behalf of the South African Golf Association.