A-SECTION
KwaZulu-Natal emerged from a tightly-contested and sometimes gruelling tussle with Central Gauteng with a narrow 6.5 – 5.5 victory.
Steve Williams and Stephen Johnson handed Clive Lazarus and Corne van Deventer a 6 & 4 drubbing to take first blood for Central in the Foursomes, but KZN won the next two games.
Dale Burraston and David Brown halved their game against Ryan Dreyer and Neil Homann to give KZN a slender one point lead heading into the Singles.
Central Gauteng’s Kevin Sharp levelled the score when he eliminated Burraston 4 & 3, but Lazarus and Van Deventer hit back to win both their games 3 & 2.
David Muller narrowed the gap to just one point when he downed Murray Gilson 3 & 2, but Ryan Dreyer lost 3 & 2 to Lyall McNeill and KwaZulu-Natal was back in the driver’s seat.
Central Gauteng’s Wendell Bossenger knocked out Keith Forde at the 18th and Williams closed out Bradley Davison 1-up to gain two points, but it was all over for Central Gauteng when David Brown downed Neil Homann 2 & 1.
Having clinched the pivotal points to break the dead-lock between the log leaders, the battle-weary coastal warriors will have to regroup for their final match against Western Province.
“It was a really tough day at the office for our boys, but once again their determination won the day,” said manager Neil Champion.
“They simply never gave up. All the matches were incredibly tight and the scores do not reflect what a battle it was out there. Hats off to Central Gauteng for an unbelievable performance.
“We are in for another tough day on Friday. Western Province are two time champions and they won’t give an inch. We will have to bring our A-game to the final round.”
Western Province will be spoiling for a fight after defeating Gauteng North 7 – 5 and moving within striking distance of Central Gauteng.
The two teams have six points each and Province lag just 1.5 games points behind Central, thanks to the efforts of Cameron Johnston, Gerlou Roux, Weyers Janse van Rensburg, Greg Sheard and Elton James, who stockpiled the points in the Singles.
Defending champions Ekurhuleni and North West drew the last match 6-all after winning two Foursomes games and four Singles apiece.
In the fourth round matches, Border and Mpumalanga both defeated Limpopo 6.5 – 5.5, Free State downed Northern Cape 4.5 and Border held Mpumalanga to a 6-all draw, but all eyes will be on the battle for supremacy between Eastern Province and Southern Cape on Friday.
Log leaders Eastern Province have 10 points in hand after defeating Boland 7.5 – 4.5, but their title bid could come under pressure from Southern Cape, who moved within striking distance with two very convincing victories on Thursday.
The Garden Route side handed Free State an 8.5 – 3.5 hiding and whipped Northern Cape 9.5 – 2.5 to finish on eight points.
A-SECTION RESULTS
Central Gauteng 5.5 vs KwaZulu-Natal 6.5
Western Province 7.0 vs Gauteng North 5.0
Ekurhuleni 6 vs North West 6
A-SECTION LOG
(Pos-Union-Played-Won-Drawn-Lost-Points-Matches won)
1 KwaZulu-Natal (4, 4, 0, 0, 8, 32.5)
2 Central Gauteng (4, 3, 0, 1, 6, 30.5)
3 Western Province (4, 3, 0, 1, 6, 28.0)
4 Ekurhuleni (4, 1, 1, 2, 3, 18.0)
5 North West (4, 0, 1, 3, 1, 15.5)
6 Gauteng North (4, 0, 0, 4, 0, 19.5)
B-SECTION RESULTS
Mpumalanga 6 vs Border 6
Free State 7.5 vs Northern Cape 4.5
Border 6.5 vs Limpopo 5.5
Mpumalanga 6.5 vs Limpopo 5.5
Eastern Province 7.5 vs Boland 4.5
Free State 3.5 vs Southern Cape 8.5
Northern Cape 2.5 vs Southern Cape 9.5
B-SECTION LOG
(Pos-Union-Played-Won-Drawn-Lost-Points-Matches won)
1 Eastern Province (5, 5, 0, 0, 10, 44.0)
2 Southern Cape (5, 4, 0, 1, 8, 40.5)
3 Boland (5, 3, 1, 1, 7, 34.0)
4 Border (5, 3, 1, 1, 7, 30.0)
5 Mpumalanga (5, 2, 1, 2, 5, 28.0)
6 Free State (5, 2, 1, 2, 5, 27.5)
7 Limpopo (6, 0, 0, 6, 0, 27.0)
8 Northern Cape (6, 0, 0, 6, 0, 21.0)
Written and released by Lali Stander on behalf of the South African Golf Association.
