Province threatened at SA Junior Inter-Provincial
While Western Province remained in pole position, Gauteng North, Ekurhuleni and the Free State and Northern Cape got back in the hunt after round four of the South African Junior Inter-Provincial at Leopard Park Golf Club.
After three rounds, the Western Province topped the log with 14 points, two points clear Central Gauteng. But third placed Gauteng North rebounded with a solid performance to put themselves into contention at the country’s premier junior team competition.
Province beat North West 6.5 - 5.5, but the Cape side went down to KwaZulu-Natal 5.5 - 6.5 and gained just two points to move to 16, while Northerns leaped to second on the log and closed the gap on the frontrunners with a 9-3 victory over Mpumalanga and an 8.5 - 3.5 result over Limpopo. Gauteng North’s four points moved them to 15 points and within striking distance of the leader.
Meanwhile Ekurhuleni launched to fourth behind Central Gauteng with two convincing performances. The Gauteng East side beat Eastern Province 7.5 - 4.5 and nearly scored a complete whitewash against Border, thrashing the Eastern Cape side 11-1.
Free State and Northern Cape reaped the benefits of a bye on Wednesday and stormed to a triple triumph. Team manager Peter Little said the triple came at the most opportune time.
Since junior golf now also falls under the auspices of the South African Golf Association, this year marks the last time that all the teams will compete at equal footing in the South African Junior Inter-Provincial.
“From next year the Junior IPT will be played to the same format as the SA IPT, Mid-Amateur IPT and Senior IPT, so it was imperative for us to win today,” explained Nel.
“At the end of this tournament, the 13 unions will be split into A and B Divisions for the 2012 IPT. We simply had to get three positive results to give ourselves a chance to make the top six teams that qualify for the A Division.
“The players knew what was at stake and they delivered in a big way. We were level in all three our matches through nine holes in our afternoon singles, but our guys took control over the closing holes to secure those three crucial victories for us.
“We’ve climbed to seventh on the log and if we can bring this kind of form and spirit to our matches against Eastern Province, Mpumalanga and North West on Friday, we are in with a chance.”
With just one round left, the Western Province and Gauteng North players pull out all the stops on Friday.
The Cape side will also rely heavily on their No 1 player to sink some crucial puts against Boland and Border. Dylan Raubenheimer is the tournament’s most valuable player to date with a 10 point tally in the foursomes and eight singles points and will certainly test his opposite numbers.
But second placed Philip Kruse – with seven foursome points and nine and a half points in the singles - will be under similar pressure when Gauteng North battle Ekurhuleni and Southern Cape in their drive to derail Province’s title hunt.
FOURTH ROUND SCORES
Free State & Northern Cape 7 vs Central Gauteng 5
Free State & Northern Cape 8.5 vs Boland 3.5
Free State & Northern Cape 7.5 vs Southern Cape 4.5
Ekurhuleni 7.5 vs Eastern Province 4.5
Ekurhuleni 11 vs Border 1
Gauteng North 9 vs Mpumalanga 3
Gauteng North 8.5 vs Limpopo 3.5
Limpopo 10.5 vs Mpumalanga 1.5
Central Gauteng 6.5 vs Boland 5.5
Southern Cape 7 vs Central Gauteng 5
Boland 6.5 vs Southern Cape 5.5
KwaZulu-Natal 6.5 vs Western Province 5.5
Western Province 6.5 vs North West 5.5
North West 7 vs KwaZulu-Natal 5
Eastern Province 9.5 vs Border 2.5
CURRENT LOG AFTER ROUND FOUR
(Position, Union, Played, Won, Draw, Lost, Points, Games
1 Western Province (10, 8, 0, 2, 16, 78.5)
2 Gauteng North (10, 7, 1, 2, 15, 72.5)
3 Central Gauteng (10, 7, 0, 3, 14, 67.5)
4 Ekurhuleni (10, 5, 0, 5, 10, 66)
5 KwaZulu-Natal (10, 5, 0, 5, 10, 58)
6 Southern Cape (10, 5, 0, 5, 10, 54)
7 Free State/n. Cape (9, 5, 0, 4, 10, 52)
8 Eastern Province (9, 4, 1, 4, 9, 58)
9 Limpopo (10, 4, 0, 6, 8, 58)
10 Boland (10, 4, 0, 6, 8, 57)
11 North West (9, 3, 1, 5, 7, 53)
12 Mpumalanga (9, 3, 0, 6, 6, 39.5)
13 Border (10, 1, 1, 8, 3, 41.5)