Open season at SA Women’s IPT
Gauteng and Border hope to pad their silverware haul when the eagerly-anticipated South African Women’s Inter-Provincial tees off at Centurion Country Club on Tuesday.
Defending champions Western Province broke Gauteng North’s seven-year stranglehold on the prestigious championship with a sublime performance at Royal Cape Golf Club last year, however, Zayb Fredericks is the only member of the victorious 2014 team returning for duty.
The rest of this year’s A-team features Ashleigh Mills, 2015 Boland Championship match play winner Katia Schaff, Tara Griebenow, Aaliyah Abrahams and Kaylah Williams.
While the format of the inter-provincial often produces upsets, the current Womens Golf South Africa Senior and Junior Rankings certainly favour Gauteng, who is eyeing more success after ending a 10-year title drought in the 72-Hole Teams Championship with a wire-to-wire victory at East London Golf Club in May.
Seventh ranked Natasha Carlsson will captain a very strong A-team assault in pursuit of the Lions’ first victory since 2006, including current number one Ivana Samu, second ranked Kaleigh Telfer, 12th ranked Eleonora Galletti, as well as Woo Ju Son and Kajal Mistry, who are respectively ranked second and 12th in the junior standings.
Samu, Telfer and Son combined for victory in East London, while Galletti and Carlsson were members of the B-team that took second.
The Lions, who finished second last year, have further strengthened their A-Division title bid with a solid B-team that comprises Lauren Bekker, Jacqui Akers, Shawnelle de Lange, Symone Henriques, Kaiyuree Moodley and reigning Nomads SA Rose Bowl champion, Chiara Contomathios.
Gauteng North will also field two teams in an effort to regain the title they surrendered to Province last year.
Chantelle Hefer will lead the Gauteng North A attack alongside reigning Sanlam SA Women’s Amateur Match Play champion Carrie Park, Adele Beytell, Danielle du Toit, Marika Reyneke and Ruzanne van der Walt.
The rest of the teams competing in the A-Division for the Jean Tindall Memorial Trophy include Ekurhuleni, Boland, KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng North B.
Meanwhile Border’s Zethu Myeki, sisters Siviwe and Yolanda Duma and Demi Flanagan will be hunting for back-to-back victories in the B-Division.
The quartet proved unstoppable at Royal Cape Golf Club last year and a mere seven months later, Myeki and the Duma sisters raced to a 20 stroke victory to win the Challenge Trophy at the 72-Hole Teams Championship.
The rest of B-Section teams hoping to prevent Border from winning the Nolan Karp Trophy for a second year running include Eastern Province, Free State, North West, Limpopo, Mpumalanga, Southern Cape and Western Province B.
PHOTO – SA Women’s Inter-Provincial defending champions Western Province; WPGU
(L-R: Katia Shaff, Ashleigh Mills, Zayb Fredericks, Aaliyah Abrahams, Kaylah Williams, Tara Griebenow)
Written and released by Lali Stander on behalf of Womens Golf South Africa.