Canada defeats New Zealand 3.5-2.5, South Africa bests Australia 5-1 to claim opening day matches at Four Nation’s Cup

(Caledon, ON) - The PGA of Canada and PGA of New Zealand started the Four Nation’s Cup strong at The Pulpit Club on Wednesday, with Canada claiming 3.5 of a possible 6 ‘game points’ vs. New Zealand, and South Africa winning 5 of a possible 6 ‘game points’ vs. Australia to win their opening matches.

The format sees each team compete against one other team each day, with each team playing two fourball matches in the morning and four singles matches in the afternoon.

The two winning countries each day are awarded a ‘match point’ for their team. The team that finishes the competition with the most ‘match points’ claims the Four Nations Cup, with individually ‘game points’ serving as a tiebreaker.

Each team is comprised of four of the nation’s top PGA professionals, having qualified via various National Championship victories, or status on their PGA’s Order of Merit.

The PGA of Canada’s team consists of: Kevin Stinson (BC), Yohann Benson (Quebec), Craig Stefureak (ONT - Ottawa), and Mitchell Fox (Alberta)

Overall standings after day 1:

South Africa: 1 match point (5 game points)

Canada: 1 match point (3.5 game points)

New Zealand: 0 match points (2.5 game points)

Australia: 0 match points (1 game point)

Individual matches were as follows:

Morning Fourball:

Yohann Benson + Kevin Stinson (Canada) def. Sean Towndrow + Brett Allan (New Zealand) 3&2

Dongwoo Kang + Pieter Zwart (New Zealand) def.Mitchell Fox + Craig Stefureak (Canada) 3&2

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Ivano Ficalbi + Jannie Botha (South Africa) def.Mitchell Smith + TJ King (Australia) 1 UP

Cornell Muller + Gavin Vorster (South Africa) def. Sam Eaves + Matthew Docking (Australia) 1 UP

Afternoon Singles:

Yohann Benson (Canada) def. Brett Allen (New Zealand) 7&6

Kevin Stinson (Canada) halves Sean Towndrow

Craig Stefureak (Canada) def. Dongwoo Kang (New Zealand) 2&1

Peter Zwart (New Zealand) def. Mitchell Fox (Canada) 6&4

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Jannie Botha (South Africa) def. Matthew Docking (Australia) 2&1

Sam Eaves (Australia) def. Gavin Vorster (South Africa) 5&4

Cornell Muller (South Africa) def. Mitchell Smith (Australia) 2&1

Ivano Ficalbi (South Africa) def. TJ King (Australia) 6&4

Detailed results, as well as information about pairings each day, are available here.

Photos from the event are available here

Second round fourball matches will begin at 8 AM on Thursday, with the PGA of Canada competing against the PGA of South Africa, and the PGA of Australia competing against the PGA of New Zealand.