All eyes were on Victoria Country Club for the final set of league fixtures for 2024. This season’s results have reflected how close the teams have been. Going into the match Kloof Country Club and Durban Country Club were level on 9 match points and only separated by half a game point.

On the day Kloof played against Umhlali A and got off to a good start in the morning Foursomes, leading 3.5 to 0.5,  DCC posted a 2.5 to 1.5 lead after the foursomes against Home Team Victoria. This meant all was to play for in the afternoon singles. DCC has much experience in their team and got the afternoon off to a good start with KZN Senior captain Keith Forde, Murray Gilson and Clive Lazarus getting good wins. Victoria fought back and with wins for John Barr over Sean Fenger, Farhan Pillay over SA Senior number 1 Lyall McNeill and Nikhil Gopal getting the better of Jason Broomhead. DCC finished the year with a 7.5 to 4.5 win.

Kloof, spurred by their “senior” members, Mark Cox, Guy O’Connor, and Andy Fordy along with Captain Stewart Theunissen got kloof going in the right direction with good wins in the bottom half of the draw getting them close to the required result. It got a little closer in the top order with the two “youngsters”  Ruben van Den Berg and Janco Kruger finishing well to get Kloof to a 9.5 to 2.5 win over Umhlali. This meant that Kloof were crowned the 2024 A League champions by a narrow 2.5 game points. Well done to Kloof. The celebrations at Kloof on Sunday evening was amazing to witness.

In the remaining matches, relegated Maritzburg got their first win of the year, 7-5 over RDGC. Toti A capped off a great year with a 6.5 – 5.5 win over Cotswold. This leaves Toti 3^rd on the log.

In the Central B League Zimbali had already won the league and cemented their place atop the league with 7-5 win over Bluff who finished 3^rd in the league. Well done to Zimbali who were unbeaten this year and fully deserve their promotion to the top league. Unfortunately, Simbithi could not field a team and this handed the much needed points to Royal Durban Golf Club. In the other match in the B league, hosts Kloof C took on fellow club mates Kloof B. This has been a much awaiting match for a number of years and it truly lived up to expectations. The match was played in a great spirit with neither team wanting to give an inch. In the end, history must surely have been made with Kloof C victorious 6.5 to 5.5 on the day. Having not been running league for long I don’t have the records, however this must be the first time that there has been such a result. Well done Kloof C for getting the bragging rights. With RDGC getting the walkover, it means that both Kloof teams were the basement dwellers in the B league.

In the Central C league, Umhlali hosted the last set of fixtures for the year. Umhlali showed how strong they are at home with a resounding 11.5 to 0.5 win over Central Durban. There were a number of possible permutations of who the winner of the C league would be. eThekwini knew that all they needed was a win to ensure promotion. Against their closest rivals at the start of the day, KZN Midlands, they were emphatic winners on the day with a score of 9.5 to 2.5. Well done to eThekwini who with 5 wins and a draw were unbeaten this year and will be promoted in 2025. Toti B who mathematically also had a chance to win the league played Cotswold B and won 9.5 to 2.5. This result elevated them into 2^nd place above KZN Midlands.

In the Allerton A league Toti hosted the final round of fixtures. Cotswold were looking to finish the season unbeaten, already having been crowned champions. Royal Durban had other ideas and got the better of Cotswold Downs 8.5 – 3.5. This win ensured that RDGC finished the season as runners-up. Cotswold must be commended for a great season, still winning the league by 3 points after the loss.

Kloof, after going down to Toti last month to end their hopes of retaining the league title lost their final game of the season to Athlone 7 – 5 after a very good singles display by Athlone. Home team Toti and Midlands contested a hard-fought match. The honours were shared 6 – 6 at the end of the day, with Midlands finishing 4^th for the year.

In the final match, it was straight shootout for the relegation place in the Allerton A league with Maidstone taking on Umkomaas. At the start of the day both teams with locked on 2 match points and Maidstone had the edge with a 2 game point advantage. Looking at the score sheet this was a very close affair that went down to the wire to decide the final standings. At the end of a long season the teams could not be separated and ended the day 6 – 6. This means that Maidstone edge relegated Umkomaas by a mere 2 game points.

In the Allerton B league, Central Durban hosted the final round of fixtures. Unfortunately with Umhlali withdrawing from the league and Simbithi not able to field a team on the day, the final day only featured one match. Fellow Windsor Park team Alliance proved to be too strong for their hosts running out 8.5 – 3.5 winners. This meant that Alliance will finish the season in 2^nd place.

Unbeaten eThekwini won the league convincingly and will be promoted to the Allerton A league. Well done on a great season.

I would personally like to thank all the clubs and their captains for a great year of league. From a league admin point of view, the year has been a success and thank everyone for their input and assistance it really makes for a much healthier league system. Well done to all the winners. To all those that were not winners, thank you for making league as competitive as it is. The friendly competition over the year has been The a delight for me and I really cannot wait for 2025 to resume battle again with a number of great friends I have made over the years playing league.

One point I would like to highlight has been the amount of match withdrawals. These withdrawals have a massive impact on clubs and league results alike. I would remind clubs that the dates of league fixtures are published early each year and clubs should take these into account when setting up their own club fixtures.

KZN Golf will soon be sending out notices for the entry of teams for 2025 and I look forward to receiving your entries in good time to setup the fixtures.

GARY WELSH – LEAGUE CONVENOR