Well to be honest, neither had I.
21° 06′ S, 55° 36′ E are the map coordinates of the capital city Saint-Denis. For most South Africans, probably a speck on a map some 600 km west of Madagascar. (Right next to Mauritius) This island in the Indian Ocean will host the World Amateur Championships during 2016.
This an overseas department of France sent a delegation from the Island and they were here in Pretoria contesting a friendly match against some of our brightest players on Woodhill CC. They sent 4 men and 2 women to contest 3 rounds of varied match-play.
Friday 9 October saw two matches. The first was Better Ball Match-Play and the Reunion ladies drew first blood winning their match 3 and 2. The leg was however saved by the GNGU men who won both matches to take a 2 – 1 lead. After a quick lunch the match continued as Combined Match Play. The GNGU team took the ascendancy by winning all the games and took a 5 – 1 lead after two rounds.
Saturday 10 October only had one match remaining, but it was singles. Reunion had a huge task ahead trailing by 4 with the GNGU team requiring only two matches to win the contest. The GNGU team however had very little mercy for the French speaking visitors by accumulating 5.5 of the available 6 points on offer. Final score GNGU 10.5 vs 1.5 Reunion.
Reunion: | GNGU: | |
Men: | ||
Antoine Laquais | Andrew van der Knaap (Captain) | |
Romain Legentil | Marco Loubser | |
Johan Mouniama | Albert Venter | |
Franck Morel (Captain) | Adriel Poonan | |
Women: | ||
Alexandra de Lavigne | Adel Beytell | |
Jade Rousseau | Larissa du Preez | |
Managers: | ||
Jean Marie Hoarau | Paul Davel | |
Mellette Hendrikse |