Western Province secured a thrilling 3-3 halved tie with near-neighbours Southern Cape but were unable to get on the board against Central Gauteng, losing 0-6 at Humewood Golf Club on Wednesday.
Western Province (3) – Southern Cape (3)
Odette Booysen and Zayaan Hendricks showed terrific fighting spirit against Southern Cape duo Lara van Niekerk and Yixuan Mu. The Province pair turned one-hole down after offsetting losses at 4 and 6 with a win at the 7th. Southern Cape began the inward-9 with pars and victories at 10 and 11, leaving WP behind the 8-ball with seven holes to play.
WP rallied impressively, earning wins at 12, 13 and 15 to tie the match with three to play.ย In the end the difference was a Southern Cape birdie-3 at 16 which was backed up by two halved holes and a narrow defeat for WP.
Province skipper Bobbi Brown and foursomes partner Kaitlyn van de Vyver ensured their side came away from the morning round against Southern Cape with a half-point to show for their efforts.
2-down after three losses and a win against Isabella Ferreira and Jasmine Furstenberg, Province squared the match through birdies at the sixth and eighth. Southern Cape edged ahead with a par at 12 before Province immediately restored parity with a birdie at 13. A Southern Cape win at 15 once more elicited a WP reply at the 16th. Two tied holes to finish saw the match end in a tie and Southern Cape take a 0.5-1.5 advantage into the afternoon singles.
Captain Bobbi Brown led from the front in the afternoon, easing to a 3&2 victory over Ferreira. Despite losing the 2nd hole to a birdie, Brown seized control of the tie with three wins in as many holes from the seventh highlighted by red numbers at 7 and 9. A loss at 11 to a birdie was a minor setback as Brown won both 12 and 13. Cancelling out a loss to a par after she lost her tee shot in the trees at 15, Brown’s birdie-3 at the short 16th secured a second singles victory of the week.
Booysen and Van Niekerk put on a wonderful match play spectacle, halving just two holes on the opening-9. Van Niekerk raced two a 2-hole advantage with wins at the first and third but Booysen edged ahead with a win at the 7th that complemented victories at 5 and 6. Successive wins at 9 and 10 offset an 8th hole loss. Van Niekerk fought back well though and wins at 12 and 14 meant the game was tied up once more. Unperturbed, Booysen registered wins at 15 and 17 for a 2&1 victory and a first singles point of the event.
Van de Vyver delivered the all-important half-point with a clutch finish against Furstenberg. Southern Cape’s Furstenberg was a hole to the good through through 13 after consecutive wins at the 12th and 13th holes. Five straight halved holes meant that when she arrived on the 18th tee, composure was paramount. With her opponent in for 5 at 18, the maturity Van de Vyver showed to grind out a par belied her 14 years and ensured it was honours even between Western Province and Southern Cape on the day.
Western Province (0) – Central Gauteng (6)
Western Province endured a difficult day against Central Gauteng as they succumbed to a 0-6 defeat.
Gauteng’s Gia Raad and Charlotte Millard won seven of the first eight holes against Booysen and Hendricks, a 2nd hole halved in 4s the lone exception. Despite winning both the 10th and 12th holes, Booysen and Hendricks were unable to sustain their positive momentum, losses at the 11th and 13th resulting in a 7&5 defeat.
Brown and van de Vyver held a 2-up advantage at the turn against Cara Ford and Kaiyuree Moodley after four wins in a row from the 5th. Pegged back by losses at 12, 13 and 15 the Province took the game down 18 after a couple of halved holes but were unable to better their opponent’s par at the last despite having a look at birdie.
Hendricks, the singles heroine from the day one match against Gauteng North was unable to recover from a 3 hole deficit through 10 against Ford, losing the 13th and 15th to birdies which resulted in a 5&3 defeat.
Raad made a fast start to her match with Booysen with wins at each of the first three holes. Though Booysen won holes six and nine, losses at the intervening holes meant the 3-up advantage remained intact at the turn. Following a Booysen win at 10, Raad slammed the door with three wins in a row as she cruised to a 5&3 victory.
Van de Vyver opened up an early advantage against Millard by winning the fourth, seventh and ninth holes against losses at the third and fifth respectively. Millard wins through pars at 11 and 12had van de Vyver playing catch up but a timely win at 16 kept her hopes alive. A loss to a par at 17 wasn’t what she was after but she can be proud of running Millard close in an eventual 1-down defeat.
Brown and Moodley enjoyed a ding-dong battle in the anchor match. 2-up through six after wins at the fourth and sixth, Brown saw her advantage erased by a birdie at seven and a par at the next. Five halved holes followed before Moodley earned wins at the 14th and 15th. Despite winning the 16th with a birdie, like her foursomes partner van de Vyver Brown lost 1-down on a day where the putts didn’t drop as regularly as she’d like.
Central Gauteng lead the A-Section on 17 game-points through two days by 4.5 points from Gauteng North while Province sit fifth on 5 game points.
Western Province face KwaZulu-Natal on Thursday.
Photo: Kaitlyn van de Vyver of Western Province in action at the 2024 SA Women’s IPT at Humewood Golf Club. Credit: GolfRSA