GEORGE, 12 December 2019 – Ekurhuleni remains on track for a hat-trick of South African Under-19 Inter-Provincial titles after three rounds at Oubaai Hotel, Golf and Spa, while KwaZulu-Natal all but cemented the promotion battle on Wednesday.

A-SECTION

Two-time winners Ekurhuleni will enjoy a well-deserved fourth round bye after routing Gauteng North 8 – 4 on day three in to keep their unbeaten record alive.

A clean sweep in the foursomes took Ekurhuleni into the afternoon session with a 4 – 0 advantage, where Christopher Bagnall continued the punishment with a 6 & 4 win at number eight. Skipper Warwick Purchase, Ryan van Velzen and Casey Jarvis at number one did the rest of the damage to secure the win.Ekurhuleni tops the log on 9 points and has 40 game points in hand, while Southern Cape moved to second in the standings on 7 points and 37 game points after keeping their campaign alive with a 6-all draw against Central Gauteng and a 9.5 – 2.5 victory over Boland.

The two sides will face off in what promises to be an epic final round tussle for the title.

All is not lost for Western Province, though.

The 2011 champions rank third in the standings with 7 points and 29 game points. If Western Province can beat Central Gauteng with a hefty margin, they will be in a great position to challenge for glory in Friday’s final round battle with North West.

Central Gauteng mowed down Boland 11.5 – 0.5 in Wednesday’s third round.

Fourth on the log with 5 points and 30.5 game points, the former champions are still in the running, but they will have to beat Western Province on day four to force a three-way tie on 7 points and knock out Gauteng North with a big win on Friday to have a shot at the title.

The battle for the wooden spoon will also go down the wire with Gauteng North, Boland and North West all still chasing a first win this week. Gauteng North leads the bottom order with 13 game points, Boland has 10 and North West is at the bottom of the standings with 8.5 game points.

B-SECTION

KwaZulu-Natal can put their feet up and really enjoy their rest day, having done the hard graft to win the promotion battle in this year’s premier junior team event.

After four successive victories, KwaZulu-Natal cemented victory on 10 points with an 8.5 – 3.5 result in their third round clash with Border. “The promotion is in the bag, but we’re not done,” said manager Joseph Kunene. “We want to finish the week unbeaten, so we will recharge today and come out fighting against Eastern Province on Friday. Only when the last putt drops in that match will we celebrate our victory.”

Eastern Province, who also has a fourth round bye, pummelled Limpopo and Northern Cape 11 – 1 in the third round, but it was too little, too late. The two comprehensive victories moved Eastern Province to second in the log, but with only 6 points, their promotion campaign is over.

Limpopo and Northern Cape drew on Wednesday and both teams will be looking to carry that momentum to success in the fourth round. Limpopo face off against Free State, while Northern Cape takes on Border and Mpumalanga.

A-SECTION SCORES ROUND 3

Central Gauteng 6 vs Southern Cape 6

Southern Cape 9.5 vs Boland 2.5

Central Gauteng 11.5 vs Boland 0.5

Ekurhuleni 8 vs Gauteng North 4

A-SECTION LOG ROUND 3

(Pos-Union-Played-Won-Drawn-Lost-Points-Matches won)

1 Ekurhuleni (5, 4, 1, 0, 9, 40)

2 Southern Cape (5, 3, 1, 1, 7, 37)

3 Western Province (4, 3, 1, 0, 7, 29)

4 Central Gauteng (4, 2, 1, 1, 5, 30.5)

5 Gauteng North (3, 0, 0, 3, 0, 13)

6 Boland (4, 0, 0, 4, 0, 10)

7 North West (3, 0, 0, 3, 0, 8.5)

B-SECTION SCORES ROUND 3

Limpopo 1 vs Eastern Province 11

Eastern Province 11 vs Northern Cape 1

Limpopo 6 vs Northern Cape 6

KwaZulu-Natal 8.5 vs Border 3.5

B-SECTION LOG ROUND 3

(Pos-Union-Played-Won-Drawn-Lost-Points-Matches won)

1 KwaZulu-Natal (5, 5, 0, 0, 10, 53)

2 Eastern Province (5, 3, 0, 2, 6, 40)

3 Border (3, 2, 0, 1, 4, 17.5)

4 Mpumalanga (3, 2, 0, 1, 4, 16)

5 Free State (4, 1, 0, 3, 2, 19.5)

6 Limpopo (4, 0, 1, 3, 1, 11.5)

7 Northern Cape (4, 0, 1, 3, 1, 10.5)