Local favourites Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University A, both teams from the defending champions University of Pretoria and this year’s dark horse Varsity College will be heading into battle for the Cup Champion honours at the University Sport South Africa (USSA) Championship on Thursday.
NMMU A crushed the A-team from the University of Stellenbosch in round one of the match play stage at Humewood Golf Club to win 5.5 – 0.5.
Maties A squared one game in the Foursomes, but Colin Baldie and Michael Maybery triumphed 2 & 1 to give NMMU A the edge heading into the Singles. Baldie, Maybery, Jacques Smith and Luke Jerling scored a whitewash in the Singles to set up the semi-final encounter against Tuks B.
Varsity College drew 1-all with Tuks B in the Foursomes, but James Kennedy, Andrew Plint and Pieter Muller reeled in the points to push Tuks B to a 4.5 – 1.5 victory.
Tuks A produced a solid 4 – 2 result against Central University of Technology Free State A to seal their spot in the semis and will go up against Varsity College A. University of Cape Town A held Varsity College squared their match against Varsity College A 3-all, but the 2015 runners-up rallied in a two-hole play-off to defeat UCT A and book their spot in the semis for a second successive year.
The Plate Champion semi-finals will be contested between Maties A against Varsity College B and UCT A versus Central University of Technology Free State A.
In the B-Section, University of Johannesburg A scored a clean against their own B-team and will face off against North West A, who defeated UCT B 4 – 2, in the first semi-final.
North West B also advanced to the semi-finals after handing Maties B a 5.5 – 0.5. The Pukke B-side will go head-to-head with NMMU B, who edged out the University of Witwatersrand A by one point to triumph 3.5 – 2.5.
Meanwhile Nkululeko Shezi and Vusumuzi Mtetwa from the University of Zululand A top the C-Division standings with 19 points each.
The pair leads by two from team mate Sihle Mathenjwo and finished four points clear of the fourth member of their team, Khayalethu Ngcanu. Sive Mnikina from championship debutants Walter Sisulu University is fifth with 10 points.
FIRST ROUND RESULTS
A-DIVISION
Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University A 5.5 – University of Stellenbosch A 0.5
University of Pretoria B 4.5 – Varsity College B 1.5
Varsity College A 3 – University of Cape Town A 3 (VC A wins 2nd hole play-off)
University of Pretoria A 4 – Central University of Technology Free State A 2
B-DIVISION
University of Johannesburg A 6 – University of Johannesburg B 0
North West A 4 – University of Cape Town B 2
North West B 5.5 – University of Stellenbosch B 0.5
Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University B 3.5 – University of the Witwatersrand A 2.5
C-DIVISION
19 Nkululeko Shezi (University of Zululand A); Vusumuzi Mtetwa (University of Zululand A)
17 Sihle Mathenjwo (University of Zululand A)
15 Khayalethu Ngcanu (University of Zululand A)
10 Sive Mnikina (Walter Sisulu University)
9 George Segane (Limpopo University)
By Lali Stander
Photo credit Ernest Blignault
