Western Province fell into the relegation zone at the South African U/19 Interprovincial following a 5-7 defeat to Eastern Province and 5.5-6.5 defeat to Boland respectively at Port Elizabeth Golf Club on Tuesday.
Western Province (5.5) v Boland (6.5)
The foursomes were a mixed bag for WP against Boland. Playing in the top-game once again, Nicolas van der Vyver and Nicholas Thompson had a nip-and-tuck game against Zandre Robberts and Sergio Japhets. Boland wins at the 2nd and 4th, either side of WP’s first win of the day at 3 preceded Province edging 1-hole clear through a win at the 5th and a birdie for the win at the 6th. Successive wins at the 8th and 9th had Boland ahead once more but Province drew level once more after parring the 10th. A Boland birdie at the 11th was followed by five tied holes in a row before Boland completed a 2&1 win over their near-neighbours with a birdie at the 17th.
In the third match of the morning, Adam Johnston and Jano Stone earned Province’s first point of the tie and their first as a combination with a 2&1 victory over Ghery Rabie and Bosman de Villiers. 3-Up through four holes, WP’s lead shrunk to one hole after Boland won the 5th and 6th. Province consolidated, however, with three tied holes from there before winning the 10th and 11th in pars. Boland winning the 15th had the potential to cause some panic but Johnston and Stone ensured that’d be their opponents last win of the day as the 16th and 17th were halved and a welcome WP win confirmed.
2-Up through 10 holes againt Boland’s Gerard Hartman and Tynan Vermeulen, Josh Daniels and Tristan Boise lost their grip on proceedings after losing the 13th and 15th before Boland birdied the 17th and parred the last to beat Province 2-Up.
A 2-Up victory by the dependable skipper Andries van der Vyver and Henru Walters ensured it was honours-even after morning-play. Wins at four of the opening eight holes highlighted by a birdie at the 6th put Province in the driver’s seat but Boland halved their advantage by winning the 9th and 11th respectively. Van der Vyver and Walters forged 3 holes clear once more after a birdie at 12 but again saw their advantage trimmed, this time to one, when Boland parred 15 then birdied 16. A WP birdie at the last ensured Boland were kept at bay for good and sent the fixture into afternoon singles all tied up.
Province began the afternoon brightly, Thompson racing to a 4-Up advantage by the turn against Japhets before a birdie at the 12th and par at the next confirmed a handsome 6&5 victory for the Westlake player. Boise registered a full-point of his own with a 2&1 win against De Villiers after late-round wins at the 15th and 17th in pars.
Four halved matches – Nicolas van der Vyver v Robberts, Andries van der Vyver v Hartman and Stone v Scriven kept the scoreboard ticking for Province though a win in one of these ties would’ve gone along way to combatting losses for Johnston (2&1 v Rabie), Walters (3&2 v Van der Merwe) and Daniels’ 3&1 defeat to Vermeulen.
In the end, these ties which could’ve just as easily been wins proved the difference as WP lost out to Boland by a solitary game-point.
Western Province (5) v Eastern Province (7)
As was the case against Boland, Province found themselves in a deadlock with Eastern Province after the foursomes. Van der Vyver and Thompson were in the pound seats against Raynard Venter and Matt Walter at 2-Up after winning the 13th with a par. It’d be death by 3s down the stretch however as EP won the 14th, 15th and 17th in 3s to prevail 1-Up.
Despite finding themselves 1-Down through four against Otthimma Matiwana and Jeandre Hattingh, there’d be no such trouble for Boise and Daniels. They seized control of the game by winning the 5th with a par while bogey got the job done at the next. An eagle-3 at 8 and a birdie-3 two holes later with a par-4 in between helped Province move 4-Up and it wasn’t until the 15th that anything other than a halved-hole was registered. After EP notched a birdie-3 at 15, Province responded with a birdie at the 16th to put the finishing touches on a 4&2 win.
After their positive result against Boland, Johnston and Stone had it all to do against Johndre Ludick and Shaun Viljoen who opened up a three-hole advantage after six holes. 4s for wins at 7 and 10 saw WP draw within one but that was as close as they’d get as four halves followed before EP restored their 2-Up advantage after winning the 15th and ultimately held on for the 2-Up win.
Van der Vyver and Walters blitzed Jon Hobson and Charles Roselnnes 7&5 after winning five of the first six holes, most notably carding birdies at the 1st, 2nd and 6th holes. Their lead grew to 6-Up after a win at the 10th before EP won their only hole of the tie at 11. Given their dominance, it was fitting that WP punctuated their victory with wins at the 12th and 13th to ensure the sides began singles play 2-2.
Province were left wondering what might’ve been in the afternoon. Despite squaring his match Walter through a birdie at the 16th, Thompson fell to a 1-Down defeat after bogeying the 17th and being unable to better Walter’s par-5 down 18.
Thompson’s was one of four matches decided by a single hole in the afternoon. 2-Down with nine to play against Hattingh, Johnston squared matters after winning the 10th, 11th and 13th against a loss at the 12th but an EP birdie at the 16th ultimately proved the difference.
Walters meanwhile was 2 to the good with five to play against Ludick but lost the 15th to a par before his EP opponent birdied both 16 and 18 to sneak a win.
Andries van Der Vyver meanwhile won four holes on the trot from the 6th against Matiwana to turn 3-Up. Despite winning just one hole on the back-nine, the 12th, and losing the 10th, 13th and 16th, Van der Vyver held on for a much-needed 1-Up victory.
Province’s only other full-point of the afternoon belonged to Nicolas Van der Vyver who won 7 of his opening 10 holes against Venter and lost just one before a birdie at the 13th confirmed a comprehensive win 7&5.
Boise earned a fighting halved result against Hobson as he turned a Dormie-3 deficit into a tied match by winning 16 and 18 in birdies and 17 with a par.
Stone was 2-Up with three to play versus Roselnnes but lost the 16th to a par and 17th to a birdie in an eventual halved result.
Log Positions
A day two best forgotten leaves Province at the foot of the table and needing a positive result against Southern Cape on day three.
Photo: Western Province Golf/Facebook