BENONI, 15 April 2015 – Western Province put their title defence into high gear with two decisive second round victories and vaulted to the top of the A-Section standings in the 27th INDWE SA Senior Amateur Inter-Provincial in Benoni on Wednesday.
Province defeated Southern Cape 8.5 – 3.5 and beat Mpumalanga 8 – 4 to lead the log with eight points.
Western Province and Mpumalanga halved the Foursomes 2-all, but Province led Southern Cape with 2.5 points heading into the Singles.
Former Players Championship winner Peter van Coller impressed on his return to the Province Seniors and won both his games, while Japie Koopman, Tony Bailey, Brian Mamphies and Francois Le Roux followed suit to rake in the points for Province against both teams.
Andrew Cleophas and Craig Poulton halved both their games against Mpumalanga, while Dirk van der Merwe lost 3 & 1 to Mpumalanga’s Gavin Light.
Cleophas beat Southern Cape’s Andy Mynhardt 4 & 3, Van der Merwe lost 2-down to Fanus Pauw and rookie Poulton went 3 & 2 down to Lionel Davids.
The defending champions will carry a two point lead into the third round over KwaZulu-Natal, who won both their matches and tied Central Gauteng, who beat Gauteng North 7.5 – 4.5.
KwaZulu-Natal downed Ekurhuleni 7 – 5 and beat North West 7.5 – 4.5 and hold a slender 0.5 lead over Central Gauteng in games points.
Meanwhile Southern Cape and Ekurhuleni managed to claim two points each to stay alive in the championship.
The Garden Route side took a narrow 6.5 – 5.5 victory over Mpumalanga and the host union defeated North West 7 – 5.
Central Gauteng upset defending champions Western Province in the Super Seniors Division when they scored a clean sweep against Southern Cape and overtook the defending champions for the lead in the standings with four points
Central Gauteng leads by one point from KwaZulu-Natal, who defeated Province 4-2.
Western Province slipped to third on the grid after edging Gauteng North into fourth with a single games point advantage.
Gauteng North and Ekurhuleni drew 3-all in the final match.
B-SECTION
Eastern Province is still firmly in charge of the B-Division battle for promotion after two rounds at Benoni Country Club. The log leaders defeated Boland 8.5 – 3.5 to take their tally to four points, while Northern Cape moved into second with three points after beating Limpopo 7 – 5.
Border scored a 7 – 5 victory against Free State to take third in the standings with two points.
Southern Cape increased their lead in the Super Senior section to three points after beating Eastern Province 4.5 – 1.5 and halving with Border.
The Garden Route team top the standings with seven points, while Mpumalanga moved to second with four points after handing Free State a 6 – 0 drubbing.
Border beat Eastern Province 4 – 2 to finish on three points with North West, who downed Northern Cape 4 – 2.
PHOTO – Gordon Wessels from Gauteng North; credit Catherine Kotze / SASPA