No feeling blue as Southern KZN golfers top league log
The final will be played on September 2 at a venue to be confirmed.
A FINAL against Zululand is what awaits for the Southern KwaZulu-Natal golf team as a result of winning the Blue Pool in the A section of the province’s league this year.
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There’s still a game in hand – against Victoria CC away on August 19 – but it’s purely academic as the team cannot be caught on log points.
The season did not start well, with an 8-4 loss to Midlands at Howick.
The next game was away against Bluff National, but fortunately captain Gary Purtell and number one player Gavin Sole were back in the mix.
A crucial 8,5-3,5 victory was secured, followed up by a big win over Mount Edgecombe CC – 11,5-0,5 – at Southbroom Golf Club.
The fourth game, against Victoria CC at Southbroom GC was perhaps the most important of them all.
The foursomes were lost 3-1 and the fightback ensued in the singles.
It came down to the wire, with super-sub Thamsanqa (Cyprian) Xolo on league debut, making the most incredible up-and-down for birdie on the 18th hole.
This was to halve his match which meant the team won 6,5-5,5.
It was also arguably the most pressure Thamsanqa had felt on the golf course.
He backed off his four foot putt and at that stage, most golfers would have forgiven him had he nudged it past the hole.
He didn’t though – stroking the ball gently into the cup, and then wiping his forehead in utter relief.
The team then beat Midlands and Bluff at home, both by a 10-2 margin, to cement their place at the top of the log.
However, the away fixture to Mount Edgecombe CC was a potential banana skin.
It wasn’t and the team came through strongly with a 10-2 win.
Had that been lost, then the last game of the season at Victoria would have been almost like a semi-final.
A loss probably would have meant not topping the pool, so fine were the margins, and especially after Victoria hammered Midlands away.
All that is irrelevant now, so the local team can now enjoy the trip to Pietermaritzburg for the game on August 19, before the final against Zululand on September 2 at a neutral venue yet to be decided.
During the season, the team has been represented mainly by Gavin Sole (Southbroom), Jason Gilliver (Selborne Park), Graham Fabricius (Port Shepstone), Mitchel Hampson (Umdoni Park), Robert Mavundla (Margate), Elvis Khawula (Margate), Gary Purtell (Southbroom) and Jarrod van Wyk (Port Shepstone).
Others who’ve had a game during the season are Mikhail van Brakel (Umdoni Park), Jean-Marc Bouic (Port Shepstone), Sbu Ntozakhe (Margate), Douglas Sima (Margate ), Kevin Murray (Southbroom), Sean Baker (Margate) and David Rush (Southbroom).
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