Central Gauteng went on the attack immediately and defeated KwaZulu-Natal 8.5 – 3.5, while Southern Cape downed North West 9 – 3 and edged out Western Province 6.5 – 5.5 to shoot straight to the top of the A-Division log standings.
Central Gauteng dominated with 11 victories between 2002 and 2013 and denied Western Province hat-trick of wins at Kyalami Golf Club 12 months ago. The defending champions signalled their intentions to make it two a row at this year’s championship with a superb start in the foursomes to lead KwaZulu-Natal 3.5 – 0.5.
Morgan Phillips downed reigning SA Senior Stroke Play champion Steve Williams 6 & 5 and Grant Lister-James and Guy O’Connor picked up two more points for the men in black, but Derek Reyneke, Jock Wellington, Rurik Gobel, Greg Gleeson, and Stephen Johnson racked up the victories to start Central Gauteng’s campaign on a winning note.
“It was pretty cold in the morning, but our guys got off to a hot start and fought nicely to give us a three point cushion,” said Central Gauteng manager Jaco du Plessis.
“Richard and Schalk had a real battle on their hands in the singles and Steve had a tough day at the office, but all credit to Morgan, who played really nicely and beat our number one. Our middle order – Derek, Jock, Rurik and, Greg – saved the day and Stephen beat Basil Naidoo 2 & 1 to get us the final point.
“It was the start we were hoping for, but we are taking nothing for granted. We have some more tough matches coming up, starting with Mpumalanga and Southern Cape on Wednesday. Southern Cape pulled off a great win against Province on day one, and we are very wary of what they can do in their own backyard.”
Western Province ruled the roost with four victories in the five years and looked strong in their opener against Southern Cape. The sides were all-square after the foursomes and both teams picked up three wins each in the singles, but Johan Marais downed Julian Visser 2 & 1 to break the stalemate and Declan O’Loughlin sealed the deal when he halved against Tony Bailey.
Western Province defeated North West 7.5 – 4.5 and the host union proved too strong, as well.
Southern Cape led the foursomes 3 – 1 and won six of their games in the singles, with only Neil Abrahamse and Fanus Pauw going down to North West’s Gary Church and Bennie Kleynhans.
It has been 15 years since Gauteng North defeated Central Gauteng to lift the coveted SA Senior Amateur Inter-Provincial trophy.
The Daisies had mixed results on opening day, going down 4.5 – 7.5 to Ekurhuleni, but beating Mpumalanga 7.5 – 4.5. Ekurhuleni whipped Mpumalanga 8 – 4 to move to second in the standings and the solitary win moved Gauteng North to fourth spot in the log behind Western Province.
In the B-Division matches at Pezula Golf Estate, Boland whipped Limpopo 11.5 – 0.5, Eastern Province beat Border 8 – 4 and Free State downed Northern Cape 7.5 – 4.5.
Seniors A-Division Results – Round 1
Central Gauteng 8.5 - KwaZulu-Natal 3.5
Gauteng North 4.5 - Ekurhuleni 7.5
Gauteng North 7.5 - Mpumalanga 4.5
Ekurhuleni 8 - Mpumalanga 4
Western Province 5.5 - Southern Cape 6.5
Western Province 7.5 - North West 4.5
Southern Cape 9 - North West 3
Seniors A-Division Log
(Position, Union, Played, Win, Draw, Loss, Points, Games)
1 Southern Cape (2; 2; 0; 0; 4; 15.5)
1 Ekurhuleni (2; 2; 0; 0; 4; 15.5)
3 Western Province (2; 1; 0; 1; 2; 13.0)
4 Gauteng North (2; 1; 0; 1; 2; 12.0)
5 Central Gauteng (1; 1; 0; 0; 2; 8.5)
6 Mpumalanga (2; 0; 0; 2; 0; 8.5)
7 North West (2; 0; 0; 2; 0; 7.5)
8 Kwazulu-Natal (1; 0; 0; 1; 0; 3.5)
Senior B-Division Results – Round 1
Border 4 - Eastern Province 8
Free State 7.5 - Northern Cape 4.5
Limpopo 0.5 - Boland 11.5
Seniors B-Division Log
(Position, Union, Played, Win, Draw, Loss, Points, Games)
1 Boland (1; 1; 0; 0; 2; 11.5)
2 Eastern Province (1; 1; 0; 0; 2; 8.0)
3 Free State (1; 1; 0; 0; 2; 7.5)
4 Northern Cape (1; 0; 0; 1; 0; 4.5)
5 Border (1; 0; 0; 1; 0; 4.0)
6 Limpopo (1; 0; 0; 1; 0; 0.5)
ARTICLE: LALI STANDER
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