Border captain Flanagan said the trio stuck to a simple strategy to claim victory in the Challenge Trophy.
“I knew coming into the week that it would be tough,” said Flanagan. “Kingswood is a very challenging course, especially when the wind is up, and it’s a lot longer than the courses we play back home.
“It was also the first time that Kesha and Lisakhanya would be tested at national level. I’ve played for Border on many occasions, and I know just how intimidating it can be to put that provincial jacket on for the first time.
My advice to both was to forget about the scores. I told them to only focus on one hole at a time and I am really proud of the way they handled themselves.”
Rounds of 152, 162, 146 and 155 saw the team finish at the top of the standings, eight shots clear of KwaZulu Natal.
“We were really tested in the wind and we all just did the best we could. KwaZulu-Natal B really put us under pressure in the last two rounds, but we kept our focus and composure and we pulled it through. I am really excited to see how we will measure up in the A-Division next year,” Flanagan said.
Olivia Wood, Amy Fletcher and Kamaya Moodliar secured second for KwaZulu-Natal B with a total score of 623, finishing just one shot ahead of Western Province C’s Zara Le Keur and sisters Anita and Erica Chen.
Western Province also enjoyed a one-two finish in the Individual Competition.
Reigning 2021 Nomads SA Girls Rose Bowl champion Van Rooyen, a 2021 inductee to the GolfRSA National B-Squad, fired rounds of 69, 74, 70 and 71 to collect the trophy on a winning score of four-under-par 284.
Brown, who lifted the Western Province Women’s Stroke Play Championship title earlier this year, finished a close second on 285 with rounds of 73, 72, 75 and 65.
Megan Streicher, the reigning SA Women’s Stroke Play champion, was third on 286. Western Province and Border lifted the trophies, but golf development was also a big winner, said Womens Golf South Africa President Sarah Braude.
“One of the most exciting aspects of this year’s tournament was that nearly half the field featured new caps earning provincial Union selection. This underscores the strength of the Development Programme that continues to grow across the country,” Braude said.
“Some of our rising young squad stars make a fantastic debut and we were excited to see 14-year-old Kesha Louw, a member of the National Squad Talent Identification (TID) Squad, and 15-year-old South African Golf Development Board member Lisakhanye Payiya celebrate their first start in the victorious Border team.
“Other youngsters enjoying their debut included 13-year-old TID squad member Ellandri van Heerden (Free State) and 14-year-olds Lonique Jansen van Vuuren (Ekurhuleni), Erica Chen in the Western Province C team and 2021 SA Women’s Amateur Flight Division finalist Zané Kleynhans (Gauteng North A). This bodes well for the future, and we look forward to this next generation of rising stars featuring in our National Championships.
“We were also delighted to see some of our leading Mid-Amateurs players on our rankings in action, including Bongi Shabalala who earned her first provincial cap in the Gauteng North B team, former SA Mid-Amateur champions Liezl Smit (KwaZulu-Natal A) and Vanessa Smith (Boland), Heidi van der Berg (Gauteng North), and Sonja Bland, representing Southern Cape.