Toast to a pair of world champs
DAYS after the Springboks claimed the Webb Ellis Cup, South Africa has two more world champions, this time from Eshowe Hills Golf & Country Estate.
Nita Dalziel and Joy Vorster claimed the Windhoek Lager Women’s Pairs International by a single point at Portugal’s Royal Obidos Golf Club on Thursday after 36 holes of cut-throat competition.
At the halfway stage, the eShowe pair trailed the Australian team of Anna-Marie Cash-Tobin and Tracy Kelly by one point.
However, a powerful surge over the opening nine holes on the second day saw them overtake the Aussies and establish a four-point lead.
The Australians were by no means finished and whittled the lead down to a single point with three holes to go, but the South Africans, both playing in their first international competition, held their nerve – like the Springboks in Paris - to triumph by a single point.
The comparison with the Springboks goes even further: the ladies also won their semi-final – the SA Nationals at Gauteng’s Heron Banks course – by a single point over Sally Kruger and Alda Wagener, and their quarter final – the KZN Regionals – also by a single point over the Port Shepstone pair of Kim Strauss and Sandra Burger.
Speaking after the trophy presentation, Nita said it was the trip of a lifetime, and that the pair were incredibly excited because they had not expected to win.
In fact, said Joy, because their opponents were doing the live scoring, they were not sure of the situation and
found out they had managed to win only after it was all over.
Joy also commented that they were determined to score points on every hole, working out in the end to make them 'proud eShowe world champions'.