Mpumalanga & Free State share SA Country Districts joy
It is pretty tough to enjoy a bye in the final round with a prestigious title on the line, especially if you are heading up the A-Section log.
However, the long wait was worth the while for Mpumalanga, who clinched the SA Country Districts title, while Free State roared to victory in the B-Section promotion battle at ERPM Golf Club on Friday.
Mpumalanga finished the week-long battle at the top of the summit with six points after Kevin Smith, Andre van Heerden, Brian Naidoo, Gary Daniel, Chris Zietsman, Quintin Wilsnach, Jaun van Greunen and Lourens Volschenk successfully combined for victories against defending champions Boland, North West and Border.
On the final day, North West defeated Boland 7.5 – 4.5 and Ekurhuleni closed out their campaign with a 7 – 5 victory against Border to tie with five points each. However, North West edged into second with 27.6 games points to Ekurhuleni’s 25.5.
Northern Cape defeated Eastern Province 7 – 5 while Southern Cape beat Limpopo by the same margin, but all eyes were on the final B-Section match between log leaders KwaZulu-Natal and second-placed Free State.
A tough battle was expected and the players certainly didn’t disappoint.
In the end, Free State wrapped up the match 6.5 – 5.5 to beat KwaZulu-Natal by two points.
The Free State side won two games in the Foursomes and halved another to take the early lead.
Jacques Schutte defeated Walter Malevu 4 & 3, while Almero Theron and Bartjie de Klerk both triumphed 2-up.
The heroes of the day was Pieter Swartz and Henning de Jager, who squared their games to secure the crucial point for Free State and promotion to the A-Section in 2016.
A-SECTION LOG
(Pos-Union-Played-Won-Drawn-Lost-Points-Matches won)
1 Mpumalanga (4, 3, 0, 1, 6, 29.0)
2 North West (4, 2, 1, 1, 5, 27.5)
3 Ekurhuleni (4, 2, 1, 1, 5, 25.5)
4 Boland (4, 2, 0, 2, 4, 26.0)
5 Border (4, 0, 0, 4, 0, 12.0)
B-SECTION LOG
(Pos-Union-Played-Won-Drawn-Lost-Points-Matches won)
1 Free State (5, 5, 0, 0, 10, 37.0)
2 Kwazulu-Natal (5, 4, 0, 1, 8, 37.0)
3 Southern Cape (5, 2, 1, 2, 5, 30.0)
4 Northern Cape (5, 2, 1, 2, 5, 28.5)
5 Eastern Province (5, 1, 0, 4, 2, 24.0)
6 Limpopo (5, 0, 0, 5, 0, 23.5)
Written and released by Lali Stander on behalf of the South African Golf Association.