SA Senior IPT heads to humdinger final
Western Province beat Central Gauteng by the narrowest of margins in 2014 and 2015, but the Lions turned the tables on Province last year to celebrate their 12th victory since 2002 in the South African Senior Amateur Inter-Provincial.
Today, the defending champions and Western Province will be at it again, with Gauteng North thrown into what has shaped up to be another epic final in Knysna.
Central Gauteng shot to the top of the A-Divisions standings in Thursday’s third round at Simola Golf and Country Estate after they downed North West 9-3 and spectacularly defeated Ekurhuleni 6.5 – 5.5.
The defending champions have 10 points and lead with by three points from their biggest foe in the national team championship, Western Province.
Province had a solid 8.5 – 3.5 result against KwaZulu-Natal in the third round and edged out Mpumalanga 7.5 – 4.5 to take second spot on the log. They have an outside chance to get back in the winner’s circle, but to reclaim the trophy, though, they must beat both Central Gauteng and Gauteng North in today’s final round and the Daisies must knock the Lions off their perch.
Gauteng North – fourth in the standings with six points – gained some major momentum from beating Southern Cape 7.5 – 4.5 in their backyard on Thursday.
Victory against either team and a draw against another will be good enough for Central Gauteng to make it official, but the rivalry between these three teams is the stuff of legend.
The defending champions will want to finish the week undefeated, but neither Western Province, not Gauteng North will take it easy on Central Gauteng.
Expect Southern Cape to throw everything into their final round contests against KwaZulu-Natal and Ekurhuleni. The host union is third in the standings with six points and 34.5 games points. A double victory could see the Garden Route side sneak in the back door on games points if the three-way match between Central Gauteng, Western Province and Gauteng North plays into Gauteng North’s hands.
Meanwhile North West downed Ekurhuleni 6.5 – 5.5 in another tightly-contested battle to get points on the board, but last year’s B-Division winners Mpumalanga levelled the scores at two points each after whipping KwaZulu-Natal 7.5 – 4.5. The two teams will go head-to-head in the final fight for survival and only time will tell who stays and who gets the wooden spoon.
Senior A-Division Results – Round 3
Gauteng North 7.5 vs Southern Cape 4.5
Mpumalanga 4.5 vs Western Province 7.5
Mpumalanga 7.5 vs KwaZulu-Natal 4.5
Western Province 8.5 vs KwaZulu-Natal 3.5
North West 3 vs Central Gauteng 9
North West 6.5 vs Ekurhuleni 5.5
Central Gauteng 6.5 vs Ekurhuleni 5.5
Seniors A-Division Log
(Position, Union, Played, Win, Draw, Loss, Points, Games)
1 Central Gauteng (5, 5, 0, 0, 10, 44.5)
2 Western Province (5, 3, 1, 1, 7, 35.0)
3 Southern Cape (5, 3, 0, 2, 6, 34.5)
4 Gauteng North (5, 3, 0, 2, 6, 32.0)
5 Ekurhuleni (5, 2, 1, 2, 5, 32.5)
6 KwaZulu-Natal (5, 2, 0, 3, 4, 24.5)
7 North West (6, 1, 0, 5, 2, 27.5)
8 Mpumalanga (6, 1, 0, 5, 2, 21.5)
Written and released by Lali Stander on behalf of GolfRSA, a SAGA and WGSA Not-For-Profit company.