Western Province sealed their first win of the 2024 SA Junior IPT after prevailing 7-5 against Southern Cape at Port Elizabeth Golf Club on Wednesday.
Province’s survival bid received an early shot in the arm against Southern Cape in the form of a 7&5 victory by Nicolas Van der Vyver and Nicholas Thompson over Ethan Prins and Markquin Hector. Pars which won holes 2, 3, 6 and 7 preceded a birdie-4 which won WP the 8th and ensured they made the turn 5-Up. The back-nine was more of the same. A sequence of victories at the 10th, 11th and 13th was broken by their only lost hole of the morning as WP ran out comfortable winners.
As comfortable was Southern Cape duo Hawken Lederle and Zack Blaauw’s 5&4 dispatching of Tristan Boise and Josh Daniels. Southern Cape won five unanswered holes on the first-nine and when WP finally claimed their first win at the 10th, Southern Cape restored their advantage with a par at the 12th. After Province won the 13th with a par, Southern Cape cancelled it out at the very next hole to secure the win.
Adam Johnston and Jano Stone staged an impressive late-round rally to halve their game with Jonathan Ackerman and Riaan Kotze. Dormie 3-down, Province pulled a rabbit out of the hat by carding birdies at each of the final three holes to snatch a tie from the jaws of defeat.
After being 1-Up with five to play against Dewan de Bruin and Peter Coetzee, Andries Van der Vyver and Henru Walters had their backs against the wall after losing holes 14-16, falling Dormie 2-Down. They too executed an escape act of sorts by notching birdies at the final two holes and in so doing tied the match and the fixture at 2-2.
Nicolas Van der Vyver was once again in imperious singles form. Pitted against Prins, Van der Vyver won the opening two holes before shrugging off losses at the 4th and 5th by winning five holes in a row from the 6th with birdies at the 8th and 9th the most noteworthy scores. Birdies at the 12th and 13th completed a dominant performance and one which improved Van Der Vyver’s singles record for the week to 3-1-1.
Brother Andries chalked up another singles victory for Province against De Bruin. De Bruin’s win at the 4th via a birdie preceded Van Der Vyver’s leveling things up before moving a hole clear through birdies at the 5th and 7th respectively. Two more red numbers were recorded at the 13th and 14th which yielded wins and despite losing the 16th to a par, Van der Vyver ultimately won 2&1.
After falling 2-Down through 5 against Kotze, Daniels reeled off three wins in a row from the 6th. He forged three holes clear after a par at the 10th and a birdie at 12. Responding to a loss at the 13th with a birdie at 14, the Somerset West player notched another critical point for his side.
Boise also earned a valuable full-point after narrowly beating Ackerman 1-Up. A hole down through 11, Boise won the 12th, 13th and 15th in 4’s to move two holes ahead. Despite a penultimate-hole loss, the Atlantic Beach player held on for the win.
1-Down playing the last against Blaauw, Walters delivered a clutch birdie to earn a half-point which kept Province’s afternoon tally ticking over. Thompson notched a half-point against Hector meanwhile though at 2-Up with four to play, he’d certainly have wanted a bit more out of the match.
Though Stone led Lederle 1-Up after winning the 9th hole, his Southern Cape opponent picked up the 10th, 14th and 15th holes en route to a 2&1 triumph.
Stone’s foursomes partner Johnston was unable to restore parity against Coetzee after trailing by two holes after 13. A win at the 17th gave him a glimmer of hope but a tied final hole meant Southern Cape’s Coetzee prevailed 1-Up.
Log Positions
With Western Province having a bye on day four before a tough assignment against table-toppers Gauteng North on the final day, plus the fact that the teams below them have games in hand, it’s likely to be a nervy couple of days for WP Manager Shaun Le Roux and his team.
Western Province’s Nicolas van der Vyver in action at the 2024 SA Junior Interprovincial. Photo credit: ERNEST BLIGNAULT/SUPERSHOTS