Laura Hoskin
North Harbour will start as favourite when 14 teams tee
off in this year's women's interprovincial which begins on the
Whakatane course this morning and continues until Saturday when
the semifinals and final will be played.
The Harbour team, led by 14-year-old Lydia Ko, is keen to
make it back-to-back titles after beating Waikato in the
final on the Miramar course last year.
Ko is highly rated on the world amateur scene and will again
play at No 1 in a team which has changed little from last
year.
She finished fourth in the New Zealand Women's Open and has
the honour of qualifying for the United States Amateur.
Harbour's toughest opposition will come from four other North
Island teams.
They are: Auckland, which has won the title 19 times, last
year's finalist Waikato, Wellington and the local Bay of
Plenty team.
The Auckland No 1 is world-rated golfer Cecilia Cho, while
another national representative Emily Perry takes top spot in
the Waikato quintet.
Meanwhile, a weakened Otago team has the task of emulating
the team's performance last year when it finished in the top
half after bottom placings the previous four years.
Otago is without the services of three top players with
Monica Tulisi returning to Christchurch with the aim of
joining the professional ranks.
Lisa Henderson was an acquisition from Southland last year
and boosted Otago's hopes but, along with Kathryn Fletcher,
is unavailable this year.
St Hilda's schoolgirl Laura Hoskin will play at No 1 this
year and will be tested by the best players in New Zealand.
Arrowtown's Jo Hicks-Beach is at No 2, with Shani Arona
making up the top trio at No 3.
This year sees the return of Liz McRae at No 4 and a former
No 1, Susan Greig, at No 5.
Otago starts against Canterbury this morning and meets Hawkes
Bay this afternoon.
After a bye tomorrow morning, Otago comes up against Aorangi
in the afternoon.
Otago will need to start well as the going gets a lot tougher
on Thursday with matches against Auckland and Waikato.
In the final round on Friday, the team comes up against
Southland but will have to be wary after being trumped in the
Salisbury Cup clash earlier this year.
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