BENONI, 16 April 2015 – Gauteng North and North West enjoyed outstanding success in the third round of the 27th INDWE SA Senior Amateur Inter-Provincial, but Western Province need just one more solid delivery to complete a successful A-Section title defence in Benoni.
The defending champions took control of the country’s largest senior team championship with two comprehensive second round victories, and drove their advantage home by beating Ekurhuleni at Ebotse Links Golf Club on Thursday.
Province and Ekurhuleni won two games each in the Foursomes, but Andrew Cleophas, Brian Mampies, Dirk van der Merwe and Craig Poulton reeled in the victories that put the Cape side in control.
Peter van Coller snagged half a point against Rodney Smith, and Tony Bailey and Francois le Roux also added halves to secure a 7.5 – 4.5 victory for Province.
Central Gauteng enjoyed a fantastic 10 – 2 result against Mpumalanga, but came unstuck against North West, who handed the former champions a solid 9-3 drubbing.
North West grabbed all four points on offer in the Foursomes and Ettiene du Randt, Henri Swanepoel, Christo Reynecke and John Durie notched four more points in the Singles. Henry Odel halved against Richard Bruyns and Johan Coetzer squared his game against Jock Wellington for the other halve.
North West also thumped Mpumalanga a 9.5 – 2.5 and gained four valuable points to vault to fifth in the standings.
Meanwhile Gauteng North also found their stride on day three and beat both KwaZulu-Natal and Southern Cape.
The Daisies won three of their Foursomes and halved another against KwaZulu-Natal and took a three point lead into the Singles against Southern Cape.
Robin Ashby, Ben Kleynhans and Williams Skinner won their games, while Chris Delport squared off against Brian Dougherty from KwaZulu-Natal to win the match 7 – 5.
Ashby, Kleynhans and Skinner also contributed to a 7 – 5 result against the Garden Route side.
It was a bleak day for Southern Cape, who also lost 6.5 – 5.5 to KwaZulu-Natal.
As things stand, Province lead the standings with 10 points, but Central Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal lag just two points behind and will be gunning for the defending champions in Friday’s final round.
Super Seniors
The Province Super Seniors will have to pull out all the stops in the final round if they hope to claim a fifth successive title this year.
Central Gauteng holds a comfortable two point lead at six points in the standings after a 3.5 – 2.5 victory against KwaZulu-Natal. The defending champions have four points, but Gauteng North edged into second place in the log on game points after defeating Boland 5.5 – 0.5.
Province enjoyed a 3.5 – 2.5 victory over Ekurhuleni, but they have work to do in their final round clash against Central Gauteng and Gauteng North.
B-SECTION
Eastern Province are well ahead of the opposition in the B-Division battle for promotion at Benoni Country Club.
The log leaders beat Northern Cape 7 – 5 to move to six points, while Limpopo, Free State and Northern Cape lag three points behind.
Limpopo edged into second on games points after beating Border 8 – 4, while Free State edged out Northern Cape for third with a 7.5 – 4.5 results against Boland.
Super Seniors
Southern Cape cemented their position at the top of the log with two victories and will carry a five point lead over Mpumalanga into the final round.
The Garden Route beat Mpumalanga 4 – 2 and North West 3.5 – 2.5.
In other matches, Border beat Northern Cape 4 – 2, Eastern Province won 3.5 – 2.5 against Free State and Mpumalanga defeated North West 4 – 2.
PHOTO – Robin Ashby from Gauteng North; credit Catherine Kotze / SASPA