Toti GC’s unbeaten singles, foursomes golfers shine

THE Amanzimtoti men’s golf league players have picked up some rhythm, with all three teams unbeaten in their games played on Sunday.

The premier league side took on DCC 2 at home, and won comfortably 7/5.

In the foursomes games, Sadeak Khader and Kalvin van Rensburg beat their opposition 2/1. Michael Dunlop and Bester Swart were three down with seven to play, but rallied to win the next six holes on the trot, leaving their opposition visibly shell-shocked, and picking up a comfortable win in the end. Final score 3/1.

The other two pairings of Jacques Nel and Kirk Newton, and Mark Cowie and Mike Igesund lost their matches, which left the game evenly balanced at 2/2 going into the singles matches.

In the singles, Michael Dunlop won 3/1, Sadeak won 7/4, Kalvin won 3/2, Mark won 2/1 and Bester won 4/3. These five points were enough to seal the victory for AGC.

Of interest, Sadeak and Bester remain unbeaten in their singles matches, and Bester and Michael Dunlop have won all their foursomes matches to date this year.

No doubt this result will be a confidence booster for this team, and with three of the remaining five league games scheduled to be played at AGC, this will hopefully be the start of wonderful things to come.

The B side travelled to the Bluff to take on MEGC, and their captain reported on the match as follows: “With a mix of wily veterans and promising youngsters, the B side were met by a very challenging golf course where the rough, bunkers and fringes around the green are very real hazards, placing an emphasis on accuracy, course management and a bit of luck.

Led by evergreen Ian Bender and Bruce Whiting going out early in the foursomes, Toti were soon on the board, but the accuracy and short game recoveries of the opposition wore down the balance of the pairings, with only Grant Harris and John Van Der Spuy bringing in a further half point.

So, Toti needed five and a half points from the singles for an important win and again, Whiting and Bender set the tone at the bottom of the order, completely outplaying their bewildered opposition and getting two points on the board. John Van Der Spuy made another solid singles contribution, getting his second win of the season on the board with a comfortable 3/2 victory.

Towards the top of the order, Grant Harris ran out of a bit of steam and the ever-improving Faraan Khader battled to get going with some ‘unplayable lies’ in thick, US Open-style rough. Chris Tredoux demolished his opposition 6/5. Following his recent upset performance in the matchplay champs, Chris could become a valuable player for Toti in this format.

Needing one point for a team win, young Rob Roux, playing in only his second league game and the captain, Matt Hamer suddenly found themselves in the spotlight in the last two live games. Rob had fought all day to keep himself in the game and with a great up and down for par on the 17th, was one down with one to play. Matt 3 putted the 17th from long range to let his opponent in with a chance and was all square standing on the 18th tee box, with still one point needed for a win.

The MEGC players split the fairway with their tee shots, Rob found the right half and with the wind picking up and maybe some adrenalin flowing, Matt saw his hybrid tee shot bounce once, twice and enter the water hazard. Rob unfortunately found the hazard with his second shot, which ended his concerted challenge to a very steady opponent.

With Matt’s opposition sticking his second on the green in two, it looked all over for Toti. After taking his penalty drop way back to allow him a full gap wedge, Matt conjured up a great shot to three metres to give Toti a sniff. With a vocal Mount Edgecombe team urging their team mate on, he three putted on the tricky green and Matt’s winning putt just stayed on the right lip, giving the half point needed for the 6–6 result. At the end of the day a decent result from all the players in some very testing and tiring conditions.”

The Allerton side were away to Royal Durban at Maidstone. The foursomes went the way of AGC 2.5 to 1.5, with Peter Tiearney and Cecil Heydenrych and Ronnie Nair and Peter Dalton winning their matches 3/2. Tommy McNaughton and Alan Brydon halved their match to gain a half point for the team, while Mike Halse and Jason Moriarty lost 1 down.

The singles games, with the exception of Peter Dalton’s match, were all close run affairs, with Peter, Mike, Cecil and Ronnie picking up a full point each and Jason a half point for his halved match. Final result AGC beat Royal Durban 7/5

Results from the week; Wednesday’s IPS was contested by 30 players, and Jorgie Jorgensen once again led the field with a fine 39 points, followed by Steve Young and Pat Vickers both on 38. On Friday, 45 players took part in the nine hole sundowner competition, and Barry Buckland took the honours with 21 points, followed by Norbert Dupont, Chad Holm, Bobby Milne and Vishnu Govender all on 20 points.

In the men’s monthly mug on Saturday, the A division was won by Kalvin van Rensburg on 72/70, with Grant Harris in second spot on 80/71. The B division was won by Gert Vosser on 82/66 with Hu Turnbull in second on 82/60. The C division winner was Craig Moriarty on 90/68, and Nigel Johnston was in second place on 96/70. The best gross in the three divisions were Kalvin van Rensburg, Hu Turnbull and Mike Murphy. Best nett was Gert Vosser.

Nearest the pins on the 7th and 17th were Bruce Whiting and Gert Vosser respectively. The jackpot was not won so carries over to this coming Saturday.

One match of the women’s knockout challenge was played on Saturday. Cheryl Flutter took ill during the match and she and her partner Estelle Binnekade conceded on the 12th hole, in a three down position, to allow Jacqui Porrill and Elsune Roode to progress to the next round. This is an interesting development as it means the handicaps will definitely come into play again in their next match, to be played against Colleen Smit and Gerda Heydenrych.

The winners of the fourball alliance on a fine 94 points were the team of Colleen Smit, Gerda Heydenrych, Charmain Stone and Sue Boucher. Nearest the pin on the fourth was Gerda, and Charmain had a two club on the 15th.

There is a club fundraising golf day on the public holiday on Thursday, 1 May. Format is 4BBB, cost is R350 per player which includes golf, the post-game braai and entry into the 100 club draw on the same day. Phone the pro shop on 031-902-1166 to book your tee-off time.