DOWERGLEN (22 September 2015) – Gauteng North and North West continued their winning ways, but Limpopo barely had time to recover after the 11 point loss to Gauteng North on Monday before KwaZulu-Natal handed them another hiding on day two at the 55th South African Inter-Provincial, sponsored by Tempest.
Gauteng North had a one point edge after a halve, two wins and a loss in the Foursomes.
Hendrikus Stoop downed Hannes van Dyk 7 & 6 to put the 2013 champions the early attack.
Marco Loubser won 2 & 1 and Andrew van der Knaap 2-up to add to their tally and Keegan de Lange pushed the team to 6.5 points with a 3 & 2 result against Kevin Smith.
Jason Smith claimed another point for the side at the 18, while Lourens Volschenk and Teaghan Gauche halved.
Quintin Wilsnach, who was a late replacement, beat reigning Nomads SA Boys U-19 Match Play champion Ross Sinclair to put a point on the board for Limpopo.
Andre van Heerden claimed their fourth point when he downed James du Preez 4 & 3, but it was too little too late and Gauteng North won 8 – 4.
KwaZulu-Natal claimed a 4 – 0 whitewash in the Foursomes at Glendower Golf Club and racked in the Singles points to win 10.5 – 1.5.
Limpopo’s Gerhard Pepler defeated Anuerin Gounden 5 & 4, but Siyanda Mwandla and Malcolm Mitchell turned the tide for the 2009 champions.
Mwandla downed Peter Masehela 5 & 4 and Mitchell eliminated Hilton Hughes 5 & 3. Gregory McKay won 4 & 2, Clayton Mansfield walked off with a 3 & 1 victory and veteran Gavin Sole trumped Quintin Crause 1-up.
Matt Saulez drove home the whipping when he halved against David Wiggill.
The victory rocked KwaZulu-Natal to the top of the standings with four points and 19.5 game points, but they only have half a games point advantage over Gauteng North.
The match between North West and Free State went right down the wire.
After North West led the Foursomes 3.5 – 0.5, Free State side launched a full assault to win the firs three games and all but two games went the distance.
After an almighty tussle, Riaan Swart defeated Andre van Zyl 1-up to secure a 6.5 – 5.5 result for North West.
Francois Kruger (3 & 2) and Danie van Niekerk (3 & 2) were the other point scores in the Singles for North West, while Roedu du Plessis (1-up), Henning de Jager (2 & 1), Heinrich Erasmus (1-up), Juran Dreyer (2 & 1) and Blaine Dormehl delivered the blows for Free State.
The promotion battle continues on Wednesday with KwaZulu-Natal facing North West, Limpopo lining up against Mpumalanga and Gauteng North going for a hat-trick of wins against Free State.
SECOND ROUND SCORES
KwaZulu-Natal 10.5 – Free State 1.5
Gauteng North 8 – Mpumalanga 4
North West 6.5 – Free State 5.5
SECOND ROUND LOG
(Pos-Union-Played-Won-Drawn-Lost-Points-Matches won)
1 KwaZulu-Natal (2, 2, 0, 0, 4, 19.5)
2 Gauteng North (2, 2, 0, 0, 4, 19.0)
3 North West (2, 2, 0, 0, 4, 13.5)
4 Mpumalanga (2, 0, 0, 2, 0, 9.0)
5 Free State (2, 0, 0, 2, 0, 8.5)
6 Limpopo (2, 0, 0, 2, 0, 2.5)
PHOTO – Hendrikus Stoop from Gauteng North; credit Ernest Blignault.