Glendower to host inter-provincials this week
The 2015 South African Inter-Provincial Championship will be contested among 12 teams
GLENDOWER Golf Club promises to serve up a feast of rousing shot-making, inspiring feats and a contest to savour when the 55th South African Inter-Provincial Championship tees off from September 21-25.
Glendower Golf Club has played host to several prominent professional and amateur events but this year marks only the second time since 1993 that the club will host the prestigious annual team championship sponsored by Tempest Car Hire.
“Glendower Golf Club is a hugely attractive proposition at all times,” said South African Golf Association (SAGA) president, Gerhard Conradie.
“The course is a true classic and rated the best golf course in Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality. It will deservedly carry the banner of our South African Open Championship for a sixth time in January and I have no doubt that the course will present a stern challenge, befitting the status and prestige of the South African Inter-Provincial.”
The 2015 South African Inter-Provincial Championship will be contested among 12 teams, competing in two divisions.
Defending champions, Central Gauteng will face host union Ekurhuleni, as well as Boland, Western Province, Southern Cape and Eastern Province in the A Division, while Free State, Gauteng North, KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo, Mpumalanga and North West Province will go head-to-head in the B Division promotion battle.
“Mike Burnard and his green staff at Glendower have worked tirelessly over the past couple of months to prepare the course for next week’s examination,” Conradie said.
“At a recent Big Easy event, only the winner, Christiaan Bezuidenhout, managed to break par, so we know the course is going to be as tough and unforgiving as ever.”
Burnard has made some subtle changes to the layout that severely tested the field in the 104th playing of the SA Open earlier this year.
“We have completed our spring treatment and fertilised all the greens and fairways and the course is starting to green up nicely,” Burnard said.
“We kept our fairways at 18 meters in width for the SA Open but have since widened them at the beginning for our members. As the scores at the Big Easy event showed, though, the course is still a severe test of shot-making and accuracy, especially for the long hitters.
“Coming out of winter, the rough is not quite as penal as it was during the SA Open, so the players will certainly enjoy having that little reprieve.”
In addition to hosting the national open championship five times, Glendower has been home to the Sunshine Tour’s annual BMG Classic since 2009.
The course has provided the backdrop to many flagship amateur events, including the 1986 Women’s 72-Hole Teams Championship, 1987 SA Amateur and SA Stroke Play Championships, the 1993 SA Inter-Provincial, the 2003 SA Women’s Amateur and Stroke Play Championships in 2003, the SA Amateur Stroke Play Championship in 2012 and the Sanlam SA Women’s Stroke Play Championship earlier this year.
