Dec 2, 2016: South Africa took a slender one point lead at the end of the first day of the inaugural India-South Africa Golf Test series at the historic Royal Calcutta Golf Club on Friday.
The visitors won two of the Foursomes, while India took one and one ended all square to put the South Africans ahead at 2.5 points to 1.5 points in the series that is being played in the Ryder Cup format.
The first Golf Test Series in India has been dedicated to the memory of senior player Mellette Hendrikse, who unexpectedly passed away just days before the teams traveled to India. Hendrikse was selected to represent the senior team and as a mark of respect, the teams observed a moment of silence during the opening ceremony.
For India, the heartening moment of the day came when Simarjeet Singh and Kailash Dhiwar, who were one-up going into the 18th against Josef Fourie and two-time SA Mid-Amateur Stroke Play champion Gerlou Roux. The Indian pair did not succumb to the pressure and instead won the last hole too, to make it 2-up.
HS Kang and Aditya Khaitan shared the points with Bobby Locke Open winner, Shaun Stapleton and Stefan Blommaert in the top match that was a tight one.
For the South Africans the two full points came from Jock Wellington and Francois Le Roux, who beat Indian Senior Amateur champion, Amit Luthra and Vijay Kumar Bhadana 4&3 and in the last match, Morgan Phillips and South Africa No. 1 Steven Williams beat Anil Jule and Sanjay Kolhatkar 6&5.
The South African team has praised the hospitality of the Indian Golf Union (IGU) and the two organisations have thus set off on a great plan for the future.
The next two days will see four Fourball matches on day two and eight Singles matches on the third and final day.
SCORES- Day 1:
Team South Africa 2.5
Team India 1.5
(South African names first)
Shaun Stapleton Stefan Blommaert A/S H S Kang / Aditya Khaitan;
Josef Fourie / Gerlou Roux 2UP Simarjeet Singh / Kailash Dhiwar
Jock Wellington / Francois Le Roux 4&3 Amit Luthra?/ Vijay Kumar Bhadana
Morgan Phillips / Steven Williams 6&5 Anil Jule?/ Sanjay Kolhatkar
Indian Golf Union Release
