Zwartkop Country Club has won the 2015 edition of the Senior Scratch league. The resounding win saw the Zwartkop team end 5 points clear of the runners-up Akasia CC and Wingate Park CC who accumulated 16 points in total each.
The probable key to the win was that the four players, who started the league, played all four matches without fail. Zwartkop was the only team to achieve this feat this year. That and the fact that all four players are well versed current provincial players for the union create a formidable team.
This year saw a change in how the league was structured. Originally an A and a B flights were created in order to pit strength against strength, whilst all the players converged at one club. However, due to late withdrawals from the league, the nine remaining teams were pitted in one group. This meant two way match play over 4 rounds, which resulted in every team entered in the league, playing every other team in the league. The camaraderie amongst the players was evident and the league was a huge success in this regard.
The GNGU sorted the teams in such a fashion that the last round would see that the three strongest teams from the 2014 league were pitted against one another during the last round. This made for an exciting climax at Blue Valley Country Club. Zwartkop CC was pitted against a resurgent Wingate Park CC and an Akasia CC team who had a point to prove. During the last round Akasia beat both Zwartkop and Wingate Park, but Zwartkop was able to beat Wingate and secured the title for the second year running.
The winning team consists of:
W. Skinner won 5.5 of 8
L. Scheepers won 7 of 8
R. Ashby won 6 of 8
C. Delport won 6.5 of 8