Province on the comeback trail at SA IPT
Hosts Western Province rebounded with a strong attack in the second round of the 54th South African Interprovincial, sponsored by Tempest, on Tuesday.
Smarting after a two point loss in the first round against Central Gauteng, Province rallied in a blustery North-easterly wind at Westlake Golf Club to take a 3-1 lead in the Foursomes against Ekurhuleni.
Ian Snyman and Cameron Johnstone won 5&4 to launch the Province attack, but Ekurhuleni squared the match when they downed Province skipper Werner Theart and Drew Denyer 3&1.
Westlake club champion Aaron Russell and Luke Trocado won 2&1 to put Province in the lead again, and Gerlou Roux and Altin van der Merwe wrapped up the 3-1 result with a 4&3 win.
“You never want to start with a loss in this format,” said Province manager, Henk Smit.
“It’s tough to come back, but we’ve been here before. We took our hiding and came back to fight another day. We’ve made a pretty positive start and we just have to keep it going.”
Southern Cape also bounced back from a first round loss to Boland and drew 2-all with Central Gauteng.
After losing the first two games, Jovan Rebula and Nicholas Mitchell won 2&1, while Breyten Meyer and Jade Buitendag wrapped up a 3&2 win to put Soutern Cape back on equal footing.
“The guys let themselves down on the back nine against Boland and were just giving the points away,” said manager Billy Valentine.
“Today they came out fighting, especially down the back straight and that’s made a huge difference to the outcome and the team spirit.”
Meanwhile Boland finished a one point clear of Gauteng North.
Jaco Spies, Herman Loubser, Karl Osche and Jacques de Villiers claimed two points, while skipper Philip Spies and Meyer Pauw squared their game against Christoff Els and Leon Scheepers.
However, Teaghan Gauche and reigning SA Stroke Play champion Jason Smith won 3&2 reduce the deficit for the defending champions.
Click HERE to view the A-Division Foursomes Results
Written and released by Lali Stander on behalf of the South African Golf Association.