SA team on track for Africa Zone VI defence
South Africa kept their title defence at the Africa Zone VI Golf Championships alive with another commanding performance in Wednesday’s second round at Windhoek Golf and Country Club.
After a clean sweep in the first round singles, the eight-man side cleaned up with four wins in the morning foursomes and added three more victories in the afternoon fourballs.
Gerlou Roux and Louis Taylor had to fend off a spirited challenge from their Namibian rivals in the foursomes, but the South African pair hung on to halve their game with P. Barnard and B. Britten to contribute to the team’s 2.5 point lead in the championship.
Putting his new caps into battle with the more experienced players proved a winning recipe for coach and captain, Llewellyn van Leeuwen, in the morning foursomes.
Debutant Eddie Taylor and Werner Ferreira combined to defeat P. Mabica and D. Maibasse from Mozambique 6 & 5, while Roux and new cap Andrew Light triumphed 5 & 4 over S. Wemba and T. Brice from Zambia.
SA number three Louis Taylor partnered with 16-year-old new cap Thriston Lawrence for a 6 & 5 win over J. Fakudze and S. Myeni from Swaziland, while the country’s number two ranked player Zander Lombard and his partner Tokkie van den Berg downed N. Simwa and M. Omondi from Kenya 7 & 6.
In the afternoon foursomes, new caps Taylor and Light lit up the course to score the team’s biggest victory in the championship. The pair was nine-under through the first 10 holes when they dispatched G. Landis and G. Kambalame from Malawi 9 & 8.
Lombard holed a 15-footer for birdie at the 15th hole to celebrate a 3 & 2 victory with Lawrence over B. Smith and T. Smith from Zimbabwe, while Ferreira and Van den Berg dipped six shots under par after the turn to defeat S. Granger and M. Orapeleng from Botswana 6 & 4.
With two rounds to play, the South African team remain on course to continue the country’s proud history in the annual African team event. South Africa has won the title a record 12 times since the championship was launched in 2000.