Southern Cape reeled in their third successive victory with a decisive win 8.5 – 3.5 against Western Province, while Central Gauteng defeated Boland 8.5 – 3.5 and Ekurhuleni 8 – 4.
Although Western Province still holds sway in the A-Section with seven points, the Garden Route side lag just one point behind and Central Gauteng moved within striking distance on five points.
Martin Vorster, Alex van Wyk, Caylum Boon, Franklin Manchest and Cameron Moralee stretched Southern Cape stretch a 4 – 0 Foursomes lead to victory against the defending champions.
Vorster, Van Wyk, Boon and Manchest all won 3 & 2, while Moralee secured the half point with a draw in the final match against Province skipper Michael Sherriff.
“The guys rallied incredibly well in the Foursomes to give us a big cushion into the Singles,” said skipper Jovan Rebula, who is making his sixth appearance for Southern Cape.
“Martin, one of our three rookies, won the first game out and Alex the second to give us six points. Caylum and Franklin were solid, and Cameron made a great comeback to halve his game. That half point can make all the difference if there is a tie on Friday and we go to games points.
“Every guy on the team has played his part to get us three wins and if we can gain some more points on Thursday, we have a very good chance of going all the way this year.”
Keelan van Wyk, David Meyers and Dylan Naidoo took care of business in the Singles after Central Gauteng also enjoyed a 4 – 0 whitewash in the Foursomes, while Emilio Pera, Fritz Orren and Marco Steyn halved to give Central a five point victory over Boland.
The 2013 champions led Ekurhuleni 2.5 – 1.5 in the Foursomes.
Guy Waterhouse, Kyle Barker, Van Wyk, Naidoo and Steyn piled on the points in the Singles and Pera, playing at eight, clinched the half point when he squared against Jason Thalrose.
The final match between Ekurhuleni and Boland ended in a 6-all draw.
The teams started the Singles at 2-all, but Niehaus Loots gave Boland an early edge with a 7 & 6 win.
Sentanio Minnie and Dylan Mostert responded with 5 & 4 victories to put Ekurhuleni in the driver’s seat and Burt Gildenhuys put them further ahead when he won 4 & 2.
Herman Loubser (3 &2) and Dandre Spies (2-up) retaliated for Boland to level the score.
Boland moved to six points first when Willem Boshoff won 1-up, but Kyle McLatchie squared the match when he defeated Erhard Lamprechts 1-up.
Western Province will play Gauteng North and Boland and Central Gauteng will take on KwaZulu-Natal while Western Province and Ekurhuleni has byes.
Free State will definitely enjoy their fourth round bye after whipping Northern Cape 11 – 1 and handing Eastern Province an 8.5 – 3.5 drubbing to surge to top of the standings with 10 points.
Nicky Nel’s charges carried a 4 – 0 lead into the Singles against Northern Cape.
Leander Snyman, GeRico Muller, Steven le Roux, Attie van Wyk, Ruan Pretorius, Wilco Nienaber and Therion Nel collected the seven points, but Arno Esterhuysen spoiled their party when he beat Franco Froneman 1-up.
The log leaders led Eastern Province 3 – 1 in the Foursomes and Nel set the tone for the Singles when he downed Eastern Province number one Jacques Smith 6 & 4.
Snyman, Le Roux, Pretorius and Nienaber boosted their tally, while Muller added a half point after a draw against Lukas Pretorius.
“This team has really punched well above their weight this week,” said Nel.
“Every player on the team has given 100 percent, like our number one Wilco. He fought like a demon to come back from three down with five to play to beat Dehan Joubert from Eastern Province. The commitment and the determination of these players are just amazing.”
Eastern Province exacted their revenge on Northern Cape to triumph 9 – 3.
Having scored a clean sweep in the Foursomes, Lukas Pretorius won 6 & 5 and Tiaan van der Bank 4 & 3 to keep the momentum going and Andrew Jeffrey, Kyle de Beer and Dehan Joubert notched the rest of the their points.
A-SECTION ROUND THREE RESULTS
Central Gauteng 8 – Ekurhuleni 4
Central Gauteng 8.5 – Boland 3.5
Southern Cape 8.5 – Western Province 3.5
Ekurhuleni 6 – Boland 6
A-SECTION LOG
(Pos-Union-Played-Won-Drawn-Lost-Points-Matches won)
1 Western Province (5, 3, 1, 1, 7, 32.0)
2 Southern Cape (3, 3, 0, 0, 6, 25.0)
3 Central Gauteng (4, 2, 1, 1, 5, 28.0)
4 Gauteng North (3, 1, 2, 0, 4, 19.5)
5 Ekurhuleni (5, 1, 1, 3, 3, 25.0)
6 KwaZulu-Natal (4, 1, 0, 3, 2, 21.0)
7 Boland (4, 0, 1, 3, 1, 17.5)
B-SECTION ROUND 2 RESULTS
Free State 8.5 – Eastern Province 3.5
Free State 11 – Northern Cape 1
Eastern Province 9 – Northern Cape 3
Limpopo 3 – Mpumalanga 9
B-DIVISION LOG
(Pos-Union-Played-Won-Drawn-Lost-Points-Matches won)
1 Free State (5, 5, 0, 0, 10, 48.5)
2 Eastern Province (4, 2, 0, 2, 4, 24.0)
3 Mpumalanga (3, 2, 0, 1, 4, 22.0)
4 North West (3, 2, 0, 1, 4, 18.5)
5 Northern Cape (4, 1, 1, 2, 3, 17.5)
6 Border (4, 1, 0, 3, 2, 13.5)
7 Limpopo (5, 0, 1, 4, 1, 24.0)
Central Gauteng at the SA U-19 Inter-Provincial at Worcester Golf Club, credit SAGA
ARTICLE: LALI STANDER
