PORT ELIZABETH – A triumphant Eastern Province celebrated A-Section promotion at the South African Mid-Amateur Interprovincial a full day earlier than expected after a splendid performance in today’s fourth round at Humewood Golf Club.

The home favourites already held a comprehensive lead, but played to their strength in the strong south-easterly wind to bump their games count tally to an unassailable 45.5 by downing  North West 9½ - 2½ and thrashing Limpopo 10½ - 1½.

Nearest rivals Free State-Northern Cape are 13.5 points behind and with only 12 points on offer per round, has no hope of catching the triumphant Eastern Province side.

EP was enjoying a great run against Limpopo until Dawie Louwrens managed to get the better of Ryno Ferreira at the 17^th but Anton Prinsloo produced some sterling golf to force a half against Malebana Paraki.

“Over the four rounds we lost just five of our 40 singles matches this week,” said captain Karl du Preez. “That is really a tribute to how well we prepared for this tournament.

“After building a 4-0 and 3-1 lead in the foursomes, the guys played to their strength in the pumping wind. They stayed patient and took their opportunities when it counted.”

The skipper also emerged as the most valuable player for the team having surrendered just a half point in four rounds.

“It’s a nice honour to have,” said a beaming Du Preez. “But to be honest, the whole team worked for this moment. We knew we would be under pressure playing at home. “We had the home course advantage and we had to use it to our advantage.

“We had a lot to prove and every guy came through and did his share to ensure our promotion. It was a great week for us. To finally earn that promotion tastes really, really sweet.”

But De Preez warned that the job would only be done when they’ve collected their final scalp.

“We have a great rivalry with our  neighbours, so we have to beat Border on Friday. That way we will have full bragging rights for the next 12 months.”

Meanwhile Ekurhuleni set the cat among the pigeons in the A-Section.

KwaZulu-Natal and Central Gauteng were neck-in-neck on five points and 22 games each after three days of play, but the defending champions produced a solid performance to beat Central 7½ - 4½. When Boland forced a 6-all draw against KwaZulu-Natal, Ekurhuleni, with six points, shot to a share of the top spot on the log, but KwaZulu-Natal - with 28 games - kept their edge with a 2.5 games count advantage.

The title hunt is still wide open with the two log leaders facing off on Friday and Central, in third place with five points, going up against Mpumalanga,. 

FOURTH ROUND RESULTS: A-SECTION

Ekurhuleni 7½ vs Central Gauteng 4½

KwaZulu-Natal 6 vs Boland 6

Western Province 9 vs Mpumalanga 3 

A SECTION LOG

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

1 KwaZulu-Natal ( 4, 2, 2, 0, 6,28.0)

2 Ekurhuleni ( 4, 3, 0, 1, 6,25.5)

3 Central Gauteng ( 4, 2, 1, 1, 5,26.5)

4 Boland ( 4, 1, 1, 2, 3,24.5)

5 Western Province ( 4, 1, 0, 3, 2,23.0)

6 Mpumalanga ( 4, 1, 0, 3, 2,16.5) 

FOURTH ROUND RESULTS: B-SECTION

Eastern Province 10½ vs Limpopo 1½

Eastern Province 9½ vs North West 2½

Limpopo 5½ vs North West 6½

Free State & Northern Cape 7 vs Border 5 

B SECTION LOG 

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

1 Eastern Province ( 5, 5, 0, 0, 10,45.5)

2 Free State/n. Cape ( 5, 4, 0, 1, 8,32.0)

3 Border ( 5, 3, 0, 2, 6,30.0)

4 Southern Cape ( 5, 2, 0, 3, 4,27.5)

5 Gauteng North  (5, 1, 1, 3, 3,29.0)

6 North West ( 6, 1, 1, 4, 3,29.0)

7 Limpopo ( 5, 1, 0, 4, 2,23.0)