Starting the 72 hole tournament tournament with an eagle, State Mines’ Casey Jarvis was always going to be one of the favourites to take the 2019 title.  However after being bogey free after the first 2 rounds, and obviously comfortable at Irene CC after winning the Tshwane Junior Open 2 years ago, Bellville’s Samuel Simpson went into the final day with a 6 shot lead over Jarvis.  Round 3 saw a total swing in the leader board with Jarvis shooting an unblemished 63 and going into the final round 3 shots ahead of Simpson and 5 shots ahead of Pretoria Country Club’s Christiaan Maas.  With the 63 under his belt, Jarvis was eager to seal the win and started round 4 with a birdie.  Finishing the tournament with 2 more birdies, a final round of 69 saw him win the event on 270 (-18) 6 shots ahead of Christiaan Maas and Samuel Simpson.

On behalf of the GNGU Executive and Staff, we would like to thank Irene Country Club for their fantastic hospitality.  The course was in superb condition considering the lack of rain and the staff went out of their way to assist.  We would also like to thank the members for giving up the course for the weekend.  A final thank you to all participants in the event.  This event has grown in the last few years and it is fantastic to see a great turn out!

For full results CLICK HERE

11 October 2019 – Gauteng North routed Central Gauteng in a pressure packed final round on Friday to claim their first victory in the 14th South African Mid-Amateur Inter-Provincial Tournament at King David Mowbray Golf Club.

The Daisies powered their way past Southern Cape (9 – 3), Western Province (6.5 – 5.5), KwaZulu-Natal (9 – 3), Ekurhuleni (7 – 5) and Free State (8.5 – 3.5) to lead the A-Section log with 10 points.

“We knew victory was within our grasp, but even with one hand on the trophy, we were taking no chances,” said Gauteng North captain Gustav Verster.

“We had a 2 point lead over Western Province and Central Gauteng and every guy on the team knew what was at stake. We knew a draw wouldn’t cut it, because we could still lost to Western Province on game points. We had to beat the Lions and every player was committed to the cause.”

Central Gauteng felt the full force of Gauteng North’s determination and banked just half a point in the in morning foursomes.

“It was a good start, but it was not in the bag yet. Central Gauteng has won the SA Mid-Amateur IPT more times than any other team since 2006, because they rule in the singles,” Verster said. “After Western Province beat Ekurhuleni 3 – 1, we knew we needed the win.”

Seasoned campaigner Louis Jonck knocked out rookie Travis Fraser 5 & 4 and Armand van Graan made it 5.5 points for the Daisies when he downed Craig Kamps 3 & 1. Wendell Bossenger defeated Gauteng North number two Lean Boezaart 3 & 2, but the skipper nailed down victory when he beat Rory Garton 2-up.

“Victory was in the bag, but true to the team spirit they had shown all week, the rest of the boys carried on fighting,” said Gauteng North manager Gerry Few.

Danie Viljoen and Louis Moolman both won 2 & 1. Alex van Heerden was 2 down, but won 16 and 17 before he lost 1-down with a bogey on 18th. Jacques van Tonder was dormie 3-down, but also won 16 and 17 to take Central Gauteng number one Ryan Dreyer to the final hole. Van Tonder went first and his putt pulled up three inches short of the hole. Dreyer drained the clutch putt to win 1-up.

“The way our boys fought till the last putt dropped in the final round was a proper show of their commitment to the team,” Few said.

“I am bursting with pride. We started building this team in 2017 and their commitment has been phenomenal. They jumped at the chance to play the course earlier this year and they played four rounds over the weekend to really come to grips with the layout and the wind. The guys practiced like demons to prepare for this tournament and the Most Valuable Player ranking speaks volumes about our team.

“Cameron Johnston and Greg Sheard from Western Province shared the top spot on 11 points, but we had seven players in the top 16, including Alex in third place on 10.5 and Louis and Jacques tied fourth on 9.5.“

Verster said the team’s pairings was a big key to our success.

“We worked really hard to perfect our line-up for the foursomes and it paid off. We scored clean sweeps against KwaZulu-Natal and Free State, we beat Central Gauteng 3.5 – 0.5 and we led 3 – 1 against Western Province, Southern Cape and Ekurhuleni.

“Building that cushion in the morning session takes the pressure off in the singles. This victory was a total team effort. It was amazing to see that as soon as a guy finished his game, he was out there supporting rest of the team.

Gauteng North team manager Gerry Few; credit GolfRSA

“We had a lot of special moments this week, but seeing our manager hugging the trophy was probably the best one of them all. Gerry has been managing IPT teams at every level for more than three decades and he gave us 110 percent.

“He planned on retiring after this year, but we made him promise to stay if we won and he will definitely be there when we take up our title defence next year. We had incredible support as we prepared for this tournament, so this win is a shout-out to the executive at Gauteng North Golf Union, and all our families.”

Western Province beat Ekurhuleni 9 – 3 to seal the runner-up spot.

Central Gauteng settled for third and KwaZulu-Natal narrowly beat Southern Cape 6.5 – 5.5 to edge Ekurhuleni for fourth place. Free State – promoted last year – held on for sixth place and Southern Cape was sent down to the B-Division after failing to score a single point.

A-SECTION RESULTS – FINAL ROUND
Central Gauteng 3.5 vs Gauteng North 8.5
Ekurhuleni 3 vs Western Province 9
KwaZulu-Natal 6.5 vs Southern Cape 5.5

A-SECTION FINAL LOG
(Pos-Union-Played-Won-Drawn-Lost-Points-Matches won)
1 Gauteng North (6, 6, 0, 0, 12, 48.5)
2 Western Province (6, 5, 0, 1, 10, 48.5)
3 Central Gauteng (6, 4, 0, 2, 8, 38.5)
4 KwaZulu-Natal (6, 3, 0, 3, 6, 33)
5 Ekurhuleni (6, 2, 0, 4, 4, 33)
6 Free State (6, 1, 0, 5, 2, 23)
7 Southern Cape (6, 0, 0, 6, 0, 27.5)

Written and released by Lali Stander on behalf of GolfRSA.

Pretoria Golf Club played host to the GNGU Foursomes on Sunday 8 September 2019. The same formula was used as in 2018 with the aim is to grow the game. Entries were open to male and female golfers from all skill sets.

Premier IPT team members Jacques van Tonder & Werner Deyzel were crowned the winners on a score of 145, one over par. Armand van Dyk & Andrew Williamson came second 4 shots from the leaders. Andre Schmidt & Mika Moerat were the B Division Winners. Peter & JP Cooper won the best nett.

We would like to thank all that participated in the event and to Pretoria Golf Club and their members for affording us the opportunity to host the event at their course.

CLICK HERE for the results

It gives us great pleasure to announce the following team, who have been selected to represent us at the upcoming GolfRSA Mid Amateur IPT taking place at King David Mowbray from
7 – 11 October 2019.
In no particular order:

Jacques van Tonder         Waterkloof GC
Danie Viljoen                     Silver Lakes GE
Gustav Verster                  Irene CC
Louis Moolman                Silver Lakes GE
Louis Jonck                        Irene CC
Alex van Heerden            Wingate Park CC
Lean Boezaart                  Irene CC
Armand van Graan          Waterkloof GC

The team will be managed by Gerry Few.
We congratulate the team on their selection and wish them all the best for the tournament ahead.

It gives us great pleasure to announce the Team for the WGSA Inter Provincial Tournament
24-27 September 2019 at Riviera on Vaal CC

In no particular order

Bronwyn Doeg                        Pretoria CC
Larissa du Preez                     Silver Lakes GE
Holly Lau                                 Woodhill CC
Charlene Oosthuizen            Waterkloof GC
Heidi van der Berg                Zwartkop CC
Hannah Venter                      Waterkloof GC

Non traveling reserve:  Karin Watts Services GC

Captain:  Larissa du Preez

Manager:  Joey Prinsloo

Congratulations to all players on their selection – may it be a successful tournament.

We had the pleasure of hosting the 2019 GNGU Teams of Two tournament yesterday at The Els Club at Copperleaf.

After making the decision to change this tournament from ladies only, to a mixed tournament, we were extremely pleased with an over subscribed field of men, lady and junior golfers, with handicap index’s ranging from +2.5 to 24.8.  This 36 hole event is 18 holes foursomes and 18 holes BB Medal Nett and is a fun team event!  It is is a goal of the GNGU Executive to host tournaments for all affiliated golfers and without the support of our Clubs and players we are unable to do this.

We would like to thank Copperleaf for their fantastic hospitality as well as their members for giving up their beautiful course for the day.  Congratulations to all the winners, especially Allan Taylor and Raymond Graaff who took their home course advantage in order to take the trophy for 2019.  CLICK HERE for the full results.

GNGU had the privilege of hosting the 2019 Northern Provinces Scratch League Finals at Silver Lakes Golf and Wildlife Estate on the 27th and 28th of July.

The teams competing were Silver Lakes Golf and Wildlife Estate, Benoni Country Club, Royal Johannesburg and Kensington, Potchefstroom Golf Club, Polokwane Golf Club and Walker Park Golf Club. The host team made good use of the home ground advantage and managed to beat all 5 teams. For full results – CLICK HERE

Thank you to the Silver Lakes staff and management for hosting a wonderful event and to their members for giving up their course for the weekend.