Province & Gauteng North double up in the 2024 SA Senior IPT

20 April 2024 – Western Province retained their A-Section title in convincing fashion at Sishen Golf Club, while Gauteng North’s Super Seniors also doubled up in the 2024 South African Senior & Super Senior Inter-Provincial Tournament at the Kalahari Country Club in Kathu in April.

Western Province entered the week as the favourites and made good on that status as they went on an unbeaten run in the Northern Cape.

The triumph was based on an exceptional week in singles play from start to finish.

The defending champions relied on their individual play to help power them to an opening 8 – 4 win over Kwa-Zulu Natal with a clean sweep in their first afternoon session. They duplicated that win with the exact same result against North West before handing Free State a 12 – 0 hiding in their third match. Neighbours Boland were brushed aside 9 – 3 thanks to 7 points picked up in the singles, while the threat of Gauteng North was well fended off as the holders claimed an emphatic 11 – 1 victory.

The match of the week against Central Gauteng, who finished as eventual runners-up after losing just the one contest, followed a similar script as the opening few battles.

Tied 2-all after the opening session, the Cape side once again stepped it up in the single.

The 2023 champions lost only one singles match and halved another as they saw off the Lions 8.5 – 3.5 in this crunch encounter to secure the trophy’s return trip to the Western Province.

The final match of the week against Eastern Province was won 8 – 4, courtesy of a positive start in the morning and then another great haul of five singles wins.

Western Province proved once again very difficult to beat in one-on-one play, and although no week is won on the back of any individual performance, it’s important to note that at the end of the tournament a number of Western Province stars had made their presence felt.

Atlantic Beach star Greg Woodbridge was overall MVP with 12 points for his week’s effort.

Woodbridge’s teammates Cameron Johnston (Milnerton) and Tony Louw (Atlantic Beach) each earned 11 points with Giles Buchanan (Milnerton) on 10. Those numbers stacked up to leave the championship-winning side with four players inside the top six leading scorers.

Not to be outdone, Gauteng North also went through the tournament unscathed to retain the Super Senior A Inter-Provincial Tournament title.

The Daisies eked out a narrow win in the opening match over Central Gauteng. After a closely fought morning left the scores even, the Gauteng North side won the singles play 2.5 – 1.5 to win the tie 3.5 – 2.5 and leave the tournament in their control.

And that’s all they needed because they swept aside the rest of their opponents to romp to the Super Seniors title.

They beat Boland convincingly in game two as they stormed to a 5.5 – 0.5 win, which settled any nerves that may have been lingering. While Central Gauteng kept up the pressure matching the log leaders win for win, the team at the top of the standings never faltered.

Ekurhuleni could manage only 0.5 points in game three and Western Province won two points in their loss against Gauteng North, placing the trophy securely in the hands of the title holders.

William Skinner ended as the Gauteng North top scorer with 9 points for the week which was half a point shy of the MVP player Neale Gandy (Central Gauteng). Skinner’s teammate, Gerhard Strydom, ended the week in third with 8.5 points.