Gauteng North’s Magda Kruger (18) took advantage of the sunny conditions and fast fairways at the Port Elizabeth Golf Club to deny the local challengers and claim victory in the Eastern Province Championship recently. Kruger carded an opening two-under-par 72 to finish a shot behind early pacesetter Cara Gorlei from the Western Province in a tie for second with Bryanston’s Kaleigh Telfer and Monja Richards from Nelspruit. Local favourite Imkeleen Meyer, Irene’s Carrie Park and Mae Cornforth from Potchefstroom lured a further shot back. Gorlei, looking to break through after runner-up finishes at the Boland Junior and Nomads WGWP Junior Championships, produced a solid final round 72, but Kruger forced the Western Province junior to wear the bridesmaid tag once again. Kruger dashed home in 70 strokes to triumph on six-under-par 142, one shot ahead of Gorlei. Park doubled up on 73 to take third on 148, while Telfer closed with a 75 to finish alone in fourth on 147. Although Kruger led the individual leaderboard at the All Africa Regional Challenge Trophy by 10 shots in May last year, her last victory was the Gauteng North Junior Girls Open 13 months ago. The Pretoria player was thrilled to be back to her winning ways. “It’s great to know I’ve still got it,” Kruger said. “I had to shift my focus to my studies last year and work towards my matric exams, so my golf really suffered, especially my swing. After the exams, I turned my attention back to golf and started working on my swing. It’s still a work in progress, but I feel that I’m hitting the ball much better. I felt sorry that my win came at the cost of Cara’s, but I collected my due of second place finishes too, so she should just persevere. Her win is also coming.”