Southbroom golfers slip up in semi-finals
The three host clubs were certainly hospitable this year, maybe too much so.
LOCAL teams did not perform as well as had been hoped during the annual KwaZulu-Natal Interclub tournament held at Port Shepstone, Margate and Southbroom golf clubs last weekend.
Of all the teams, across the A, B, Frog and Senior Frog divisions, only Southbroom managed to get teams into the matchplay stage of the tournament, held at Port Shepstone.
In the A division Southbroom got as far as the semi-finals and got knocked out by Kloof.
They were represented by Gavin Sole, Chris Poole and Mike Anthony.
When Gavin lost his game, he was three under par and only dropped one shot. His opponent, Malcolm Mitchell was six under when the game finished on the 17th.
Chris Poole also lost on the 17th and had made the trip from Gauteng especially to be part of it all.
Mike Anthony was dragged, kicking and screaming, into the A team. Then he played really well, and won his matchplay game 4/2 after being 2-down after 7.
“I’ll bet you are surprised to see us (me) here on Sunday in the matchplay,” he said to this journalist.
“Come on, admit it,” he laughed.
Kloof would lose to Mount Edgecombe in the final.
In the Senior Frog it was again Southbroom that got through, only to be dumped by Howick.
Don Osbourn halved his game, but was kicking himself afterwards, as he was two up with four to go and just could not quite finish it off.
Russel Mackenzie was solid all day, and won 1-up.
A bitterly disappointed Errol Rudman had a very early shower, losing 7/5.
“It was the worst three-day stretch of golf for me ever,” he lamented.
But that’s golf, and it wasn’t like the players from Sheppie, Margate and Port Edward weren’t trying either – of course they were. Next year it could be a different story altogether.
Port Shepstone did make it to the Alliance of the B division, as did Port Edward in the Senior Frog, but neither were able to inflict much damage therein.
Overall, it was a fantastic tournament and the three clubs can be proud of what they put up for the visiting golfers.
A total of 399 players teed it up in the tournament. Everyone had a minimum of two games at two different courses.
Nearly 1 000 rounds were played over the weekend, perhaps more if you count a practice day on the Thursday – a very nice boost for our local economy.
One golfer mentioned that 15 of them enjoyed a meal at a local restaurant where the bill came to around R5 000 (that’s R333 per person).
Throw in accommodation and it’s evident that this tournament is one to be valued for the region.
Umdoni Park won the B division and Umkomaas won the Frog trophy.
Durban Country Club won the Senior Frog division.
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