It was always going to be a tough battle between the top three contenders but KwaZulu-Natal blew their opposition out of the water to lift the South African Mid-Amateur Interprovincial title at Humewood Golf Club on Friday.

The coastal side earned their second Mid-Amateur IPT title in three years when they wrapped up a comprehensive 8-4 victory over defending champions Ekurheleni to take their winning tally to eight points.

“This is an incredible moment for the whole squad, because we prepared exceptionally hard for this week,” beamed team manager, Neil Champion.

“We faltered along the way and it all game down to how we would perform as a team in this last game against Ekurheleni. I am so proud of how the players pulled together to ensure our victory.”

The two teams were neck-in-neck after a 2-all result in the foursomes, but KZN six of their singles to seal their campaign.

“We never took anything for granted,” said Lyall McNeil, who downed Hugo Delport 2&1.

“Every man on the team knew we had to dig deep to turn things in our favour. We are a team that bat from one to eight; there are no superstars. The whole team contributed and that’s why we pulled it through.”

Champion said that even though Barry McGhee and David Brown were beaten in the singles, their losses could be forgiven purely based of their performances earlier in the week.

“The losses were marginal and could easily have gone the other way,” he said. “Every man in the squad can fairly share in this triumph. They were completely committed all week and stuck it out through the tough times. This really is an incredible victory for us here at a world class golf course.”

Meanwhile Central Gauteng dished out a 8½ - 3½ beating to Mpumalanga while Western Province saved themselves from relegation with by beating Boland 7½ - 4½.

Just a day after securing their promotion from the B-Section, the Eastern Province continued their winning march with a clean sweep after handing Border a 9-3 drumming.

“We were determined to finish this week on a high,” said EP captain Karl du Preez. “I can honestly say that it is a great feeling to know we have earned our bragging rights for the next year.” 

FINAL ROUND RESULTS: A-SECTION

Boland 4½ vs Western Province 7½

Central Gauteng 8½ vs Mpumalanga 3½

KwaZulu-Natal 8 vs Ekurhuleni 4

A SECTION LOG

(Position - Union - Played - Won - Draw - Lost - Points - Games)

1 KwaZulu-Natal ( 5, 3, 2, 0, 8,36.0)

2 Central Gauteng ( 5, 3, 1, 1, 7,35.0)

3 Ekurhuleni ( 5, 3, 0, 2, 6,29.5)

4 Western Province ( 5, 2, 0, 3, 4,30.5)

5 Boland ( 5, 1, 1, 3, 3,29.0)

6 Mpumalanga ( 5, 1, 0, 4, 2,20.0)

FINAL ROUND RESULTS: B SECTION 

Eastern Province 9 vs Border 3

Free State & Northern Cape 7 vs Limpopo 5

Gauteng North 4 vs Southern Cape 8

B SECTION LOG

(Position - Union - Played - Won - Draw - Lost - Points - Games)

1 Eastern Province ( 6, 6, 0, 0, 12,54.5)

2 Free State & Northern Cape ( 6, 5, 0, 1, 10,39.0)

3 Southern Cape ( 6, 3, 0, 3, 6,35.5)

4 Border ( 6, 3, 0, 3, 6,33.0)

5 Limpopo ( 6, 2, 0, 4, 4,29.0)

6 Gauteng North ( 6, 1, 1, 4, 3,33.0)

7 North West ( 6, 0, 1, 5, 1,28.0)