BLOEMFONTEIN (8 October 2012) – The South African Mid-Amateur Inter-Provincial tees off at Schoeman Park in Bloemfontein from 8-12 October with KwaZulu-Natal in A-Section title defence and the Free State & Northern Cape side pinning their hopes on B-Section promotion at home.
It is a measure of the strength and depth of talent in the over-35s ranks that this year’s tournament will once again see 13 of the 14 golf unions competing in the A- and B-Sections in Bloemfontein.
The A-Section teams feature the defending champions, Boland, Central Gauteng, 2010 champions Ekurhuleni, the Western Province and Eastern Province, who earned promotion at Humewood last year.
In the B-Section, the local favourites will contest promotion with Gauteng North, Limpopo, Southern Cape, Border, North West Province and Mpumalanga, who were relegated last year.
Although the A-Section teams are very equal in terms of the spread of talent, the 2011 championship in Port Elizabeth saw KwaZulu-Natal and Central Gauteng emerge as the strongest contenders as early as the second round.
Central mounted a strong challenge, but the KwaZulu-Natal side showed their mastery at the links layout when the wind tested the teams in the third and fourth rounds and edged out Central by one point to win their second SA Mid-Amateur IPT title in three years.
KZN player Murray Gilson has been the mainstay for his province for the last three years with 23 victories in 30 matches and will once again captain the side in their title defence at Schoeman Park while Stephen Johnson will wear the skipper’s mantle for Central Gauteng.
Meanwhile Eastern Province used their home course advantage in the B- Sections to the fullest degree to earn their promotion, with a full round to spare.
Karl du Preez will have the tough task of keeping Eastern Province in the A-Section.
“It’s going to be very tough, because Free State & Northern Cape will give it their best effort to earn promotion at home,” said Du Preez.
“They have some outstanding players, including Josef Fourie, who won all his matches at Humewood last year. We will not only have to watch ourselves against our A-Section opponents, but we’ll have to keep an eye on the developments in the B-Section, as well.”
