IT was a tournament that would have been great for TV.
There was some quality golf, the emergence of some young talent, a couple of upsets that could not really have been predicted, and some brutal weather thrown into the mix.
At the end of the 2016 version of the KwaZulu-Natal Country Districts Interzone tournament, played at Port Shepstone Country Club, it was hosts Southern Kzn which came away with the winner’s shield.
It’s been four years since they last won this event, and there was an element of satisfaction of a job well done, particularly in securing a full house of points: winning both rounds of the strokeplay, and all six of their matchplay games.
But it was not without some anxious moments.
On Day One, unheralded Graham Fabricius of Port Shepstone Country Club took advantage of home course knowledge to win the strokeplay on a score of 69 and 72.
He was helped in that one of the pre-tournament favourites, Derek Scullard (Cathedral Peak), made 81 in the morning, before a vastly improved 68.
And then, Gavin Sole (Southbroom), needing a par on the last hole to force a play-off, uncharacteristically took two less-than-pretty blows to get out of the front bunker.
Fabricius could hardly believe his eyes. Neither could anyone else.
On Day Two, Southern Kzn played their B team, and very nearly came unstuck. There was a total of nine Margate members in the two teams, and four of the games saw them face off against each other.
All four of these games went down the 18th.
It was epic in its intensity, helped by the fact that the south-westerly wind was making the closing holes extremely difficult.
In the last game out on the course, Robert Mavundla made a birdie on the 18th to scrape a half and see the A side win 4,5-3,5.
At the same time, SKzn A beat arch rivals North Coast 5,5-2,5. North Coast boasted former Sheppie member Gerry Terblanche, arguably the best dressed golfer for the weekend (and six players with Welkom connections!) in their ranks.
Later in the day, Skzn beat defending champions Northern Kzn 4,5-3,5 and Zululand 6,5-1,5.
It was a valiant comeback effort from Corné van Deventer’s men, who had shockingly gone down 6-2 to Midlands, led by Jens Hillermann and Steve Denning, in the morning.
The final day was breezy, the wind coming from the north-east, but conditions were not as bad as the day before.
Skzn had very little trouble seeing off Midlands and East Griqualand, winning 6-2 and 6,5-1,5 respectively.
Final log:
Southern Kzn 18 (67)
Northern Kzn 12,75 (62)
North Coast 10,25 (58)
Midlands 7 (51)
Zululand 7 (39)
Skzn B 4,5 (37)
East Griqualand 3,5 (22)
The Kzn country districts team to play in the SACD tournament in Nelspruit from May 16 to 20 is as follows:
Corné van Deventer (Vryheid – captain), Louis Albertse (Dundee), Sean Baker (Kokstad), Ryno Crous (Vryheid), Jens Hillermann (Noodsberg), Steve Phytides (Zimbali), Derek Scullard (Cathedral Peak) and Combrinck Smit (Vryheid), Reserve: Graham Fabricius (Port Shepstone). Manager: Wynand de Swardt (Sakabula).
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