SA team keep title defence on track at Africa Zone VI Champs
The South African team continued their winning march with another solid performance on day two of this year’s Africa Zone VI Golf Championships at Lilongwe Golf Club in Malawi.
Having launched their title defence with a white wash in the opening Singles on Tuesday, the eight man squad extended their lead on day two, opening up a substantial gap with seven victories in the second round Foursomes and Betterball matches.
Debutant Musi Nethunzwi from Soweto continued his dream start, combining with junior Zander Lombard to beat Kenya 3&2 in the Foursomes and Mauritius 5&3 in the Betterball.
Gert Myburgh from Benoni, the second debutant, and CJ du Plessis, the only member from the victorious 2011 side, thumped Zimbabwe 6&5 in the Foursomes and produced a 5&4 result against the host nation in the afternoon.
After beating Kenya 3&2 in the Foursomes, JP Strydom and Drikus Bruyns gained the upper hand against Zambia to win their Betterball match 5&4.
Haydn Porteous and Shaun Smith took early command of their Foursomes match against Zimbabwe to win 4&2, but the Namibians gave the pair a real run for their money in their Betterball match.
“Haydn and Shaun and their Namibian opponents had a really tough time of it, because the wind came up and the weather was no longer conducive to low scoring, ” said South African Golf Association president, Colin Burger.
“The Namibian pair also brought their A-game to the fight and it turned into a tightly contested battle.
It came down to the par-five 18th, where Roux Jeffreys from Namibia nearly holed out for three. He was left with a tap-in for birdie to win the match for Namibia.”
Burger said the South Africans have a solid lead going into Thursday’s Singles.
“We’ve only lost one match and we have 15 points out of a possible 16, so our title defence certainly remains on track. I was really impressed with how the players handled the weather and their course management today. I also think our combinations worked out very well; in some cases, even better than anticipated.
“We are looking forward to having another rewarding day at Lilongwe tomorrow.”