Fabricius shows grit as Southern KZN dominate at Beachwood
It also saw the return of Graham Fabricius to winning ways after not playing much last year.
Beachwood Golf Club is a course that commands respect even on a calm day, with bowling alley-narrow fairways and rough currently so thick it would fit right in at a US Open.
This was the venue for Southern KwaZulu-Natal’s third game in the Premier League season and they produced very solid golf to win 10,5-1,5.
It also saw the return of Graham Fabricius to winning ways after not playing much last year.
He has recently become the father of a beautiful baby girl, and while he maintains she sleeps through the night, teammates were not convinced as he napped in the car on the way to Durban.
With Jack Cubitt not available, G Fab, as he is nicknamed, slotted in with Matt Sutherland in a reshuffled foursomes line-up.
“He’s a gritty competitor,” was how Sutherland described his play.
Results were as follows:
David Rush and Jean-Marc Bouic beat Daniel Govender and Gary Bennewith 5/4.
Jan McDermott and Chris Zietsman, trading blows with each other via sharp-witted banter, beat Rajen Sewgolum and Luke van der Berg 5/4.
Fabricius and Sutherland beat Chris Xiao and James Jarvis 2/1.
Gavin Sole and Jason Gilliver beat James Barnard and Nick Adams 2-up.
In the singles, Rush beat Bennewith 6/5 and Bouic halved with Govender.
McDermott halved with Sewgolum and Zietsman halved with Van der Berg.
Fabricius got off to a fast start against Xiao and was four up after eight holes, only to see a few golf balls and his lead disappear by the 15th.
Still, he hung on and eventually eked out a 1-up win.
“I was so nervous,” he said. “Played well, then atrociously, then sort of okay.”
He was nervous only because he wanted to contribute points, and that he did.
Sutherland kept his unbeaten streak going and won 3/2 against Jarvis, the introduction of a controlled fade off the tee working wonders this season.
Sole saw off Barnard 3/2 and Gilliver beat Adams 3/1.
It was a more dominant win than anyone had expected, although Beachwood were missing a few regulars.
The next league game will be at home against Mount Edgecombe CC at a venue to be confirmed on June 5.
A half should be enough to see them top the pool, but they will want to win it outright, knowing their are no easy games in Premier League.
Then, semi-finals will be played on July 10 with the finals on July 24.
In the other game, Mount Edgecombe CC beat Umhlali 7,5-4,5.
Before that though, there’s the matter of defending the KZN Interzone title at Eshowe Hills from March 25 to 27.
HAVE YOUR SAY
Like the South Coast Herald’s Facebook page, follow us on Twitter and Instagram
