Eastern Province will be looking for one final surge as they try to land the SA Mid-Amateur Interprovincial title as the tournament goes down to the wire at the Humewood Golf Club in Gqeberha on Friday.
The hosts maintained their unbeaten run on another wind-blown day at the links course, handling the conditions just that much better than their North West opponents to head the log with nine points from five matches going into the final day.
After securing an important lead in the morning foursomes (2.5-1.5), EP took control of the singles matches to secure their fourth win of the week.
They charged to victory in five of the eight matches for an overall 8-4 result, putting them in the driving seat with one match remaining.
The question is: how well can they drive?
The result puts them two points ahead of their final day opponents, Western Province, after the coastal outfit suffered mixed fortunes on the penultimate day.
While they did well to see off the challenge of Ekurhuleni, who were also in contention at the start of the day, WP came unstuck in the singles against Northern Cape after sharing the morning foursomes 2-2.
They could only pick up one more win, plus one halved match, slumping to an 8.5-3.5 loss, leaving them a mountain to climb on the final day.
The week, which started on Monday, looked like developing into a three-way fight for honours between EP, Western Province and Ekurhuleni, but the latter team will be disappointed with Thursday’s showing in which they shared the honours with Northern Cape and lost to WP.
They are now on six points and out of contention.
Earlier in the week, the results across the board underlined the competitiveness of this tournament.
For example, though unbeaten, EP’s biggest win going into yesterday’s penultimate day of action was by only three points when they outduelled Central Gauteng 7.5-4.5.
Their match against fellow title-chasers Ekurhuleni ended in a 6-6 tie, while their remaining wins were achieved by 7-5 margins against Northern Cape and defending champions Gauteng North.
The matches involving WP and Ekurhuleni have been equally closely contested.
Following their tie with EP, Ekurhuleni edged home by one point (6.5-5.5) against both Gauteng North and Central Gauteng.
WP tied with Gauteng North and were made to work hard for victories over North West (7.5-4.5) and Central Gauteng (7-5). — SA Mid-Amateur Golf Interprovincial
HeraldLIVE
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