JOHANNESBURG, 12 April 2015 – Gauteng North are geared up for their opening match against KwaZulu-Natal in the A-Division of the 2015 South African U-23 Inter-Provincial that gets underway at Country Club Johannesburg on Monday.

Rosswell Sinclair, Adriel Poonan and Marco Loubser – members of the victorious 2014 Gauteng North team – return for duty alongside debutants Divan Marais, JP Cooper, Albert Venter Kifense Nukeri and Ruan Conradie, who replaced the injured James du Preez.

The defending champions are certainly among the favourites to perform at the Rockland Course next week, but team manager Johan Struwig said the team is taking nothing for granted.

“Rosswell, Adriel and Marco will bring a lot of experience to the team and JP and Rosswell are in good form after playing each other in the final of the Nomads SA Boys U-19 Match Play Championship this weekend,” Struwig said.

“JP, Rosswell and Akasia’s Kifensi, who is a member of the Gauteng North chapter of the South African Golf Development Board, all represented Gauteng North in the South African U-19 Inter-Provincial in December.

“Inter-Provincials are tough to predict, because of the format, but our players a bunch of fighters and we are very excited to see how they will perform at U-23 level.”

KwaZulu-Natal Skipper Greg MacKay will lead the eight-man side into battle against Gauteng North.

The team includes Luke Mayo, Liam McIlroy, Kwanele Mkhoma, Samuel Gouma, Jason Broomhead, Ruben Coetzer and Aneurin Gounden.

The coastal side made the most of their local course knowledge at Royal Durban Country Club last year to score a clean sweep and earn promotion to the A-Division.

The team are champing at the bit to get going, but they will have to hit the ground running in their first round tussle against defending champions Gauteng North.

“We battled to earn our promotion last year and the players are very determined to extend our stay in the A-Division,” said KZN team manager Joseph Kunene.

“We know we are in for a really tough start against Gauteng North, but every player on the team is committed to get us off to the best possible start.

“Our aim this week is to protect our spot in the A-Division. We have a team full of young, talented and fiery competitors, so even if the opening match doesn’t go our way, I have full confidence that the players will bounce back and rally in the rest of our matches.”

Central Gauteng will face North West in their opening gambit, while Ekurhuleni play Western Province on Monday.

PHOTO – Reigning Nomads SA Boys U-19 Match Play champion Rosswell Sinclair; credit Catherine Kotze / SASPA.