South Africa’s three leading amateurs were hungry to reverse their disappointing start to the World Amateur Team Championships in Turkey and get their title bid back on track with a solid performance on Friday, but inclement weather dealt their hopes a huge blow.
The country’s three leading amateurs made a disappointing start in the opening round of the World Amateur Team Championships in Turkey and are well off the record-breaking pace set by the United States on Thursday. The trio combined for a total of three-over-par 145 at the Sultan Course at the Antalya Golf Club, which left the local side tied for 34th in the field of 72 competing countries.
Brandon Stone, Haydn Porteous and Zander Lombard are geared up to launch their bid to become the first South African team to lift the prestigious Eisenhower Trophy since the World Amateur Team Championship launched in 1958. And the country’s leading three amateurs will carry some red hot form into the 2012 edition of the world’s most prestigious biennial team competition, which tees off at the Antalya Club in Turkey from 4-7 October.
What looked to be the Western Province’s 17th triumph turned into a glorious moment for Boland and for the first time in 52-year history of the country’s most prestigious amateur teams competition, two teams will share the South African Inter-Provincial title.
Central Gauteng gave it an almighty push to come from behind and win the last two matches against Western Province to square this morning’s final round foursomes at the South African Inter-Provincial.
The Western Province and Central Gauteng will face off in Friday’s final round of the South African Inter-Provincial what promises to be an epic battle for supremacy but, while the big dogs fight about the bone, Boland could sneak in the back door.
The Western Province and Central Gauteng forged ahead in the foursomes while Limpopo took advantage of the benign conditions at Port Elizabeth Golf Club to square off against Boland in the fourth round of the South African Inter-Provincial.
There are still two rounds left and lots of golf to be played, but a resurgent Boland and gritty Western Province side threw the 52nd South African Inter-Provincial Championship wide open on Wednesday. Central Gauteng had plotted a course for their title defence with positive results against Limpopo and KwaZulu-Natal over the first two days, while Gauteng North stayed close behind. But now the tournament has developed a distinct three-way split and is heading for an almighty showdown.