Ekurhuleni u-19 golf team are SA champs

Ekurhuleni defeated Western Province to win the A division at the South African u-19 inter-provincial at East London Golf Club on December 15.

Ekurhuleni won this title for the first time in almost 30 years.

Ekurhuleni led the log with nine points but Western Province had eight points and two game points advantage as the two teams teed off in the final round. The foursomes ended 2.5 – 1.5 in Ekurhuleni’s favour but the 2014 champions went into the singles guns blazing.

After nine holes, it was still too tough to call.

Sam Simpson mowed down Marco Massiceti 6 and 5 to level the score, but Ryan van Velzen beat Ayden Senger 5 and 4 to put Ekurhuleni ahead again. Junior Presidents Cup teammates Luca Filippi from Western Province and Ekurhuleni’s Jayden Schaper both won 4 and 3, but the scales started tipping in Ekurhuleni’s favour when Nash de Klerk downed Francois Cilliers 3 and 1.

Yurav Premlall made a crucial par at the final hole to beat Idrees Saban 1-up and put Ekurhuleni’s sixth point on the board. Warrick Purchase and Casey Jarvis both squared their matches and the extra point sealed a 7.5 – 4.5 victory for the 2017 champions.

“The Junior IPT dates back to 1966 and when you look down the winner’s list, it’s easy to understand where all that fire in the belly came from,” said manager Jack Turton.

“The last time our juniors held the trophy was back in 1988. That was 29 years ago and we were still called Eastern Transvaal.

“This victory has been five years in the making because these boys have been playing together for a long time. This team won three out of the four quadrangulars we played in this year. Now they are the SA u-19 IPT champions.”

Turton said keeping the strategy fluid contributed to their unbeaten performance.

“Over the four rounds, we made some changes to the pairings or line-up along the way and they paid off,” Turton said.