Gauteng North was in ascendancy once more as they mowed down Limpopo 11.5 to 0.5 to claim the South African U23 Inter Provincial, while the North West province held off a charging KwaZulu-Natal to claim B-Section promotion at Nelspruit Golf Club on Friday.

Gauteng North held on to their A-Division lead despite a fourth round draw, but the battle for promotion in the B-Division will come down to a titanic battle between North West and KwaZulu-Natal at the South African U23 Inter-Provincial on Friday.

Western Province defeated Southern Cape to edge into third place as Gauteng North strengthened their position at the top of the A-Section log in Wednesday’s third round of the South African U23 Inter-Provincial at Nelspruit Golf Club.

Province and Southern Cape were squared at 2-all after the foursomes, but halves from AB Price and Robert Bougas and victories Marlon Swarts, Josh de Klerk, Ian Snyman and Alex Jordon handed Province a 7-5 victory.

A second successive victory on day two of the South African U23 Inter-Provincial put Gauteng North in pole position and a one point clear over their nearest challengers, Ekurhuleni, at Nelspruit Golf Club.

The Gauteng North side defeated the Western Province 8.5 – 3.5 in round one and followed their success with a 6.5 – 5.5 victory over Southern Cape on Tuesday

Ekurhuleni caused the first major upset at this year’s South African U23 Inter-Provincial when they defeated defending champions Central Gauteng in the first round played at Nelspruit Golf Club on Monday. Although the two teams were level at 2-all after the foursomes, the Ekurhuleni side took control in the singles, winning five of the eight games to beat their opponents 7-5.

South Africa’s Haydn Porteous delivered another commanding performance in George to claim his fifth stroke play title this season at the Cape Province Open on Sunday. The country’s number one ranked amateur was in blistering form, carding rounds of 65-70-71-67 at George Golf Club and Kingswood Country Club for a winning total of 15-under-par 273.

Porteous finished four shots clear of Ekurhuleni’s Christiaan Bezuidenhout and six ahead of Woodhill golfer Zander Lombard in third. Local golfer Nicholas Meyer produced a final round 69 to finish in fourth on five under 283, one stroke ahead of Country Club Johannesburg’s Louis Taylor and fellow George Golf Club players, Jovan Rebula and Breyten Meyer.

Three of the country’s top amateurs will debut for South Africa when the SA team take up their title defence at the Africa Zone VI Golf Championships at Windhoek Golf and Country Club from 22-26 April. The new caps include reigning Sanlam SA Amateur champion Thriston Lawrence from Nelspruit, SA Amateur finalist Andrew Light from George and Eddie Taylor from Harrismith, who plays out of Country Club Johannesburg. Lawrence, Light and Taylor are ranked fourth, seventh and ninth on the South African Golf Association’s current rankings.

South Africa's number four ranked amateur Louis Taylor erased the disappointment of having a brilliant run at the Sanlam SA Amateur cut short with his first podium finish at the Northern Amateur Match Play on Friday. Taylor, who defeated fellow Springbok Tertius van den Berg 2&1 in the 36-hole final at Randpark Golf Club, was thrilled to lay his hands on his first piece of silverware.

“This really makes up for the disappointment of the Sanlam SA Amateur,” the Harrismith golfer gushed. “It felt good to win and to do it here in my home union made it extra special. I’ve worked really hard on my consistency over the last 12 months. It’s great to see it finally pay off.”

South Africa’s number one ranked amateur Haydn Porteous was in blistering form at Randpark Golf Club this weekend, lifting the Northern Amateur title with a massive 14 shot winning margin.

Porteous blew away the opposition with rounds of 71-63-68-64 for a 72-hole total of 22-under-par 266. Scotland’s Jamie Savage finished a distant second on eight-under-par 280, with Stephan Cronje claimed third on seven under, while 16-year-old Sanlam SA Amateur champion, Thriston Lawrence, slipped into a share of fourth on six under 282 with Armandt Scholtz.

The South African team staved off a spirited final round attack from their Scottish opponents to lift the Leopard Trophy in the fourth annual clash between the two golfing nations Leopard Creek on Wednesday.

The crucial four winning points for their narrow 15.5 – 12.5 victory were secured by SA number two Zander Lombard, his playing partner Louis Taylor and new caps Gerlou Roux and Callum Mowat in what turned into a cliff hanger final round.

The South African team won the final round morning session 3-2 to extend their lead over Scotland to four points in this year’s Leopard Trophy at Leopard Creek, near Malelane.

The home side led Scotland 8.5 – 5.5 after winning two foursomes, six singles and halving one single in the first round of the fourth annual clash between the two golfing nations.

The Scottish squad will take a slender one point lead into the first round afternoon singles at the Leopard Trophy after edging ahead 3-2 in the morning section at Leopard Creek, near Malelane.

The four matches delivered two wins and two losses for both teams, but the Scots took the lead when 17-year-old Ewan Scott from St Andrews beat fourth-ranked Gerlou Roux from Bellville 7&6 in the single match that made up the morning session.

The South African team launched a spirited comeback in their afternoon singles to edge to a three point lead over Scotland in the first round of the Leopard Trophy at Leopard Creek, near Malelane.

The South African team and their Scottish opposite numbers have enjoyed some great moments since arriving at Leopard Creek on Sunday, but as in any rugby, cricket or soccer match of international proportions, the camaraderie and friendship of the last two days will be put aside when the two teams face off in the fourth annual Leopard Trophy on Tuesday.

South Africa won the inaugural two-day Test at the Gary Player-designed championship layout near Malelane in 2010 and triumphed again in 2011, but the Scots claimed the early advantage last year and, despite a spirited charge on day two, the Scots scored a close victory to deny the home side their chance at a hat-trick.

At 16 years, two months and 26 days, Mpumalanga teenager Thriston Lawrence became the youngest champion of the Sanlam South African Open Championship in the 106 year history of the event at Country Club Johannesburg on Friday. Playing with the steadfast persistence of a man many years his senior, the Nelspruit golfer fought his way into the records books with an emphatic 9&8 victory over Southern Cape’s Andrew Light. Lawrence not only bettered the previous youngest player record set by Desvonde Botes in 1991 by just over two months, but his winning margin was the biggest since Ettienne Groenewald lifted the trophy at Royal Johannesburg in 1980 with the same result.

One more victory and Mpumalanga teenager Thriston Lawrence could become the youngest player to lift the Sanlam South African Amateur Championship title since the prestigious tournament launched in 1906. The 16-year-old Nelspruit golfer dispatched South Africa’s number two Zander Lombard 2&1 in the morning quarterfinals and held his nerve to beat Country Club Johannesburg’s own Louis Taylor by the same margin to reach the final on Thursday. But the reigning SA Boys U-19 Match Play champion knows he is in for a tough battle against Southern Cape’s unheralded Andrew Light, who eliminated the last Scot standing to set up the first home final since 2009.

It’s down to unheralded Southern Cape golfer, Andrew Light, to break the Scottish stranglehold on the Sanlam SA Amateur Championship in this afternoon’s semi-finals at Country Club Johannesburg. The 23-year-old George golfer will go into battle against 17-year-old St Andrews golfer Ewan Scott, who is shouldering the hopes of a Scottish hat-trick in the country’s most prestigious amateur championship.

It’s never easy to compete against your sibling. Just ask formula 1 drivers Michael and Ralf Schumacher. Boxers Leon and Michael Spinks. Or tennis greats Venus and Serena Williams. If you want to reach the top, you just have to grin it and bear it, but it can get even tougher when the man you’re up against, is your mirror image.

The Taylor brothers from Harrismith usually pose a lethal combination when they combine for the same side, like when they played for Hilton’s first team cricket or the U-19 KZN hockey team. Having chosen a career in golf, the 23-year-olds both play out of Country Club Johannesburg, both represent Central Gauteng and, on Monday, both qualified for the match play stage. However, a cruel twist of fate set Louis and Eddie on a collision course on the same side of the draw. A meeting in the third round of the country’s most prestigious amateur event today was simply inevitable.

When four-time Major winner Ernie Els lifted the South African Amateur Championship title in 1986, his father Neels was the first person to share in the prestigious celebration. But Neels Els never expected to go through it all again. Twenty-seven years later, having covered miles of global fairways with his famed son in the last three decades, Els Snr was back where it all started, but this time, he was not just cheering on his grandson, Jovan Rebula, but doing bag-duty, as well. The 15-year-old nephew of Els made his debut in the country’s flagship amateur event on Sunday and Els Snr said this was an opportunity he just couldn’t pass up.

South Africa Special Olympics gold medallist Thomas Lugg set a new benchmark for Special Olympians world-wide when he made a historic debut in the 2013 Sanlam South African Amateur Championship at Country Club Johannesburg this week. The world’s number one Special Olympian golfer moved one step closer to his long-term goal to compete in the pro ranks when he lined up alongside the country’s top amateurs in the 36-hole Stroke Play Qualifier of the South African Golf Association’s flagship event on Sunday and Monday. Lugg’s achievement was made more significant by the fact that he qualified for the championship on merit, having shot a 67 at Glenvista to claim one of 25 spots on offer to a 42-man field.