Despite a morning foursomes 1-1 tie, Western Province suffered a 3.5-2.5 defeat to KwaZulu-Natal on day three of the SA Women’s IPT at Humewood Golf Club which leaves them perilously placed on the A-section log heading into the final day’s play on Friday.
Odette Booysen and Zayaan Hendricks failed to get a foothold in their match against Jemima Ullyett and Olivia Wood as they lost the first four holes before two halves preceded a run of three further losses. A win with a par at the 11th provided brief respite from the onslaught but a 12th hole halved in 3s sealed their fate and defeat by a 7&5 margin.
Bobbi Brown and Kaitlyn van de Vyver had a better time of it against Kesha Louw and Kamaya Moodliar as they overturned a 2-hole deficit through six holes with wins at the 7th, 8th and 10th holes. KZN edged ahead once more by winning the 12th and 14th in pars but Province responded with a birdie at the 16th to tie things up. Astonishingly, Province won the par-5 17th with a bogey which made all the difference in a 1-up victory.
Hendricks made a fast start to her singles match with Moodliar, racing to a four hole advantage inside the first five holes. A Moodliar win at 6 was quickly erased by a par for a win at the 7th hole. Having made the turn 4-up, Hendricks saw her advantage cut in half after her opponent won both 11 and 12 in pars. To her credit, Hendricks responded with a par to secure a win at 13 and despite a loss at 15 to a birdie, the Atlantic Beach player held on for a 2&1 victory.
Hendricks’ foursomes partner Booysen bounced back from losses at the 1st and 3rd against Ullyett, earning wins at the 5th and 7th but an Ullyett win at 9 meant it was advantage KZN with 9 to play. Booysen made a bright start to the second 9, registering wins at 10 and 11 to move 1-up but Ullyett wrestled back the advantage through a par at 13 and a birdie two holes later. Booysen kept her composure as time worked against her, securing a par at the 17th to win the hole and ultimately earn Province a half point.
Brown suffered two losses inside the first three holes against KZN’s Louw but fighting pars at the 6th and 9th squared proceedings heading into the back-9. After a 10th hole halved in bogey-5s, Louw stamped her authority on the match with an eagle-3 at 11 before winning the 12th with a par. Louw’s winning birdie-4s at 13 and 15 either side of a halved 14th hole capped off a comfortable 4&3 win over the Province skipper.
Van de Vyver was well in her contest with Olivia Wood after wins at the 3rd, 5th and 7th offset losses at the 1st and 5th. Wood drew level though with a par at the 9th before moving a hole clear by birdieing the 11th and parring the 12th. Unfortunately for Van de Vyver the pair matched each other from then on as five successive halved holes meant Wood prevailed 2&1.
Following their narrow 2.5-3.5 defeat to KZN, Province occupy 5th on the A-section log heading into the final day’s play with just two game-points separating WP (7.5), 6th-placed North West (6) and Boland (5.5).
As fate would have it, the three sides face each other on the final day’s play with A-section survival on the line.
Photo: Western Province’s Zayaan Hendricks in action at the 2024 SA Women’s IPT at Humewood Golf Club. Credit: GolfRSA