WP swat aside EP, build handy A-section lead

Western Province lit up an otherwise miserable Stellenbosch Golf Club on Wednesday as they beat Eastern Province 9.5-2.5 and in so doing opened up a 5.5 game-point lead over North West atop the A-section log at the 63rd SA Premier Interprovincial.

Andries van der Vyfer and Henru Walters delivered a full-point for their side in the top-match, rebounding from a loss at the 3rd to a birdie from Michael Bezuidenhout and Dillon Germishuys with three wins on the trot from the 4th. A birdie-4 at the 8th started a run of three more wins in a row. Despite a loss at the 11th and three in succession from 14, Van Der Vyfer’ and Walters’ wins at 10 and 12 ensured they landed a 2&1 victory.

The anchor match of skipper Andrew Georgiou and Travis Procter also went WP’s way by a 2&1 margin, the foundation of which was three unanswered wins inside the first 10 holes. Georgiou and Procter lost the 11th and 13th to pars but responded with a birdie at 14 to restore their 2-hole advantage before halving their way to another full point for WP.

The most comprehensive win of the morning belonged to Shaun Le Roux and Dan Copeman who book-ended their front-nine with two-hole wins. The Westlake pair built on a 3-up advantage at the turn with victories at 11 and 12. A loss at 13 to a par-3 preceded two halved holes and a 4&3 triumph over Naldo Claassen & Pieter Zietsman.

Two-up through 11 holes in their match with Devon Valentine and Shaun Viljoen, Cole Cruickshank and Mitch Phigeland suffered three losses in a four-hole stretch from the 14th which meant they were 1-down playing the last. The 18th was halved in pars as WP ended the morning foursomes 3-1 up.

Western Province would lose just one game in the afternoon Singles as Henru Walters failed to overturn a three-hole deficit through eight holes as the Durbanville GC member fell to a 4&3 defeat against Claassen.

There were no such issues for Walters’ foursomes partner Van der Vyfer who blitzed Bezuidenhout 6&5. Four wins in a five-hole stretch from the 5th offset a loss at the 2nd-hole as Van der Vyfer took a three-hole advantage into the back-nine. After winning 10 and 11 in pars, the Strand Golf Club member saved his best for last as an eagle-3 punctuated a dominant display and extended his record to 6-0-0.

Shaun Le Roux timed his 4&3 win against Valentine superbly. Three wins in six holes provided the Westlake member with some early breathing room which he added to with a win at the 10th. Responding to back-to-back losses at the 11th and 12th with two wins of his own at 13 and 14. The second of these which sealed a 4&3 win was particularly timely as play was halted due to the rain which had battered the course for much of the day.

After play resumed, Procter closed out a comfortable 5&4 win, the highlight of which was four wins over his opening-nine as the Durbanville member closed out a successful outing against EP with his second full point of the day.

Cole Cruickshank earned his first full singles point with a 2&1 win over EP no.1 Jean-Pierre Van Der Watt by a 2&1 margin. Two wins in the first four holes set the tone for a successful afternoon. Cruickshank did well to keep a clean card in the worst of the weather before the stoppage and returned afterwards to hole a four-footer for the half at 14 before an incredible save from way right of the green at the par-3 15th, closing out the win two holes later.

Mitch Phigeland was arguably the biggest beneficiary of the stoppage in play. One down through 14 holes against Tiaan Tibshraeny, the Atlantic Beach player won the 15th and 16th with gutsy pars before completing a wonderful turnaround with a birdie-3 at 17 and a 2&1 victory.

The final full-point of the day belonged to Georgiou, who didn’t let Germishuys into the tie after wins at the 2nd and the 6th. Three further wins against two losses saw the former Sunshine Tour pro home by a 3&2 margin.

The only halved match of the afternoon, Copeman v Viljoen was arguably the most memorable game of the day. Dormie 2-Down, Copeman holed out from the fairway at the par-4 17th for an eagle before an exquisite approach at the last set up a closing birdie to secure a dramatic half.

“I hit a huge drive on 17; the green was like just a couple of metres away and I had a feeling I was going to stiff it close,” said Copeman.

“I hit a nice little bump and run and I didn’t think it was going to go in but I saw it tracking and I was already celebrating and then it just dropped!”

Province’s victory lifted them to 24.5 game-points, 5.5 game-points clear of North West who overturned a 1-3 Fouromes deficit by beating Southern Cape 6-2 in the afternoon singles to win the tie 7-5.

Western Province face Central Gauteng on Thursday.

Photo: Dan Copeman in action on day 3 of the SA Premier IPT at Stellenbosch Golf Club. Credit: GolfRSA