Western Province outlast tough test to win SA IPT

Western Province celebrates their 2024 SA Inter-Provincial victory at Stellenbosch Golf Club; credit GolfRSA

26 September 2024 – Western Province used every bit of their experience playing in the wind and rain en route to claiming the title at the 2024 South African Inter-Provincial Tournament, while Gauteng North came up trumps in the promotion battle at Stellenbosch Golf Club.

Having done the hard work leading into the final round, Western Province were not to be denied in their quest to reclaim the title they won in 2022 at Koro Creek. Despite being narrowly defeated against newly promoted Southern Cape – their only loss of the week – the 6.5-5.5 result was still enough to ensure victory thanks to their games superiority.

Big wins over Eastern Province and Ekurhuleni laid the platform for the home side to make good on their pre-tournament tag as one of the favourites.

North West ended second – also with only one loss for the week – after a 7-5 win over Ekurhuleni in their final match. It will go down as a great week for the North West side as they ended just four game points short of matching the eventual victors tally of 37.

No doubt, they will look to build on this strong showing as they emerge as serious threats in the editions to follow.

Western Province captain Andrew Georgiou was left brimming from ear to ear following the closing ceremony as he continued to clutch onto the IPT trophy.

“It’s the absolute best feeling … it’s why we came here … I’m so proud of the guys,” he said shortly after the final game of the tournament.

“The weather was a challenge all week, with a lot of rain and wind. The last round was the only time we were in shirts only, which made for quite a change. The course was amazing even in the tough conditions. It was firm and fast with slick greens running at about 12 on the stimp and then you add the gale force winds.

“The team came together and played well throughout. I couldn’t be prouder of each and every one of them. We are certainly going to enjoy this triumph.”

Defending champions Central Gauteng and Ekurhuleni finished their campaigns with two points apiece to prop up the table, and unfortunately, a count out saw Ekurhuleni relegated to the B Section in 2025.

Western Province also dominated the Most Valuable Player table.

Andries van der Vyver was the leading player for the week after contributing 9 points, and team mates Mitch Phigeland and Cole Cruickshank finished second and third on 8 and 7.5 points respectively.

Southern Cape’s Ivan Verster also enjoyed a very good week and shared second on 8 points.

North West’s best player for the week, Janko Van der Merwe, ended with 7 points just edging teammate Oliver Goldhill (6.5 points) as the best player for the runners-up in the A Section.

Gauteng North claimed the promotion battle at the 2024 SA Inter-Provincial at Stellenbosch Golf Club; credit GolfRSA

In the B section, Gauteng North stormed their way to the A section in 2025 thanks to an unbeaten record for the week in Stellenbosch.

In a crucial fifth round tie against Boland, the Daisies were able to edge Boland 7-5 to ensure they finished two points clear of KwaZulu-Natal. The loss left Boland in third with six points. Mpumalanga, Free State and Border rounded out the bottom half of the section.

“Winning the B Section was a really big deal for us. We are hosting the event next year at Silver Lakes, so we had the goal of coming here and winning promotion to make sure we play in the A Section on home soil.” says Gauteng North captain Francois Coetzee.

“It was a tough week with the weather. But the course did play fairly despite some holes playing tougher because of the wind. Today, the closing holes were long and difficult but that’s all part of it and I’m proud of the team for hanging in there.”

Kyle Kistensamy was the standout performer as the KZN star finished as the leading scorer with 9.5 points.

Gauteng North captain Francois Coetzee led from the front all week and finished on 8.5 points awith teammates Wandre Snyman and Matthew Rossouw just half a point back. Boland dup Janus Roberts and Crismar Engelbrecht also ended on 8 points as they helped keep their side in contention until the very end.

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