JOHANNESBURG, 15 April 2016 – After close calls in the last two editions of the INDWE SA Senior Amateur Inter-Provincial, Central Gauteng produced a champions’ innings on the final day to end Western Province’s reign in the prestigious national senior team championship.
However, Ivan Palframan, Tim Hewan, Anton Bezuidenhout and Mark Hair from Western Province will return home as heroes after securing their sixth consecutive title in the Super Seniors division with a commanding performance at the Wanderers Golf Club.
SENIORS
Unlike the past two years, the battle for supremacy between the defending champions and the host union didn’t come down to a count-out on games points. Instead, Central Gauteng won in convincing style to reclaim the title they owned 11 times between 2002 and 2013.
Central Gauteng downed KwaZulu-Natal 7.5 – 4.5 and held off Western Province in a tension-fraught battle in the singles to win 6.5 – 5.5 and claim the maximum 14 points on offer.
Team manager Jaco du Plessis said the victory paid homage to the hard work the team put into their preparation and their capacity as eight individual stars to come together as a team.
“Each guy on the team is a great player in his own right, but the key to success in team events is for those eight stars to form a unit,” Du Plessis said. “We studied the R&A manuals for the Ryder Cup and the Walker Cup to understand how we could unite the players as a team and their efforts and their success this week demonstrated their commitment to each other.
“A successful team has no pecking order, no superstars; it’s just eight guys who play for each other and who play for one joint goal and I am incredibly proud of their effort and determination. Everyone on the team can take great pride in this achievement.”
Central Gauteng and Western Province were 2-all heading into the singles.
Former SA Senior Stroke Play champion Gavin van Aswegenclaimed first blood for host union when he defeated Japie Koopman 6 & 4. Richard Bruyns beat Hugo Calitz 4 & 2 and Stephen Johnson won 2 & 1 to take Central Gauteng’s tally to 5 – 2, but Andrew Cleopas, Tony Bailey and Herman September levelled the score for Western Province.
It came down to rookie Steve Williams to clinch it for Central Gauteng after stalwart Jock Wellington forced his game against Craig Poulton to a draw.
“Steve was either all square or down to Francois le Roux from Province all day,” Du Plessis said. “When Francois hit it in the water at 17, we knew we had beaten KwaZulu-Natal and we needed the point to beat Province. Steve was not driving the ball well and he aimed his tee shot right because he knew he had enough space on that side.
“He hit a superb approach to 18 metres from the pin and we could see he really wanted to go for the putt to beat Morgan Phillips from KwaZulu-Natal. However, when Francois missed his putt, Steve knew he had two putts to win 1-up and secure the victory for us. He conceded the game to Morgan and that simple decision spoke volumes of the unity of this team.”
Meanwhile Gauteng North also went on a tear against Ekurhuleni and Southern Cape.
The Daisies handed Ekurhuleni a 9.5 – 2.5 drubbing and beat Southern Cape 7.5 – 4.5 to vs Southern Cape 4.5 to finish third overall with nine points.
The Garden Route side moved from seventh to sixth in the standings after beating Ekurhuleni 7 – 5, and North West edged out Eastern Province 6.5 – 5.5 to take seventh in the log. The loss sent Eastern Province back to the B-Section just a year after claiming promotion.
Super Seniors
Western Province defeated KwaZulu-Natal 4 – 2 and Gauteng North 4.5 – 1.5 to put an exclamation mark on an undefeated production. The defending champions triumphed on 10 points and finish a full five points ahead of Central Gauteng, who edged out Ekurhuleni for second with 4.5 games points.
FINAL ROUND RESULTS – Seniors
Western Province 5.5 vs Central Gauteng 6.5
Central Gauteng 7.5 vs KwaZulu-Natal 4.5
Western Province 3 vs KwaZulu-Natal 9
Gauteng North 9.5 vs Ekurhuleni 2.5
Gauteng North 7.5 vs Southern Cape 4.5
Ekurhuleni 5 vs Southern Cape 7
North West 6.5 vs Eastern Province 5.5
SENIORS A DIVISION FINAL LOG
(Position, Union, Played, Won, Draw, Loss, Points, Games Points)
1 Central Gauteng (7, 7, 0, 0, 14, 52.5)
2 Western Province (7, 5, 0, 2, 10, 49)
3 Gauteng North (7, 4, 1, 2, 9, 47)
4 Ekurhuleni (7, 3, 0, 4, 6, 38)
5 KwaZulu-Natal (7, 2, 1, 4, 5, 43.5)
6 Southern Cape (7, 2, 1, 4, 5, 37)
7 North West (7, 2, 1, 4, 5, 33.5)
8 Eastern Province (7, 0, 2, 5, 2, 35.5)
FINAL ROUND RESULTS – Super Seniors
Western Province SS 4 vs KwaZulu-Natal SS 2
Western Province SS 4.5 vs Gauteng North SS 1.5
Central Gauteng SS 3.5 vs Ekurhuleni Ss 2.5
Central Gauteng SS 5.5 vs Southern Cape Ss 0.5
Ekurhuleni SS 4 vs Southern Cape SS 2
KwaZulu-Natal SS 3 vs Gauteng North SS 3
SUPER SENIORS A DIVISION FINAL LOG
(Position, Union, Played, Won, Draw, Loss, Points, Games Points)
1 Western Province (5, 5, 0, 0, 10, 21.5)
2 Central Gauteng (5, 2, 1, 2, 5, 17)
3 Ekurhuleni (5, 2, 1, 2, 5, 16)
4 KwaZulu-Natal (5, 1, 2, 3, 4, 13.5)
5 Southern Cape (5, 2, 0, 3, 4, 13)
6 Gauteng North (5, 0, 2, 3, 2, 9)
PHOTO – 2016 Indwe SA Senior IPT Senior champions Central Gauteng; credit Ernest Blignault
(fltr – Gavin van Aswegen, Richard Bruyns, Johan Swart, Stephen Johnston, Steve Williams, Schalk Naude, Jock Wellington, Greg Gleeson and team manager Jaco du Plessis)