Golf: Late birdies give Logan win

Inia Logan.
Inia Logan.
A sensational birdie-birdie finish has given Inia Logan the South Island under-19 and under-17 titles in a three-round championship which finished on the Coringa course in Christchurch yesterday.

The 16-year-old Cromwell junior trailed Canterbury's Connell Kilpatrick by a single shot with two holes to play but, unfazed, Logan calmly sank a 6m putt for a birdie two on the long 17th hole to join Kilpatrick in a tie.

But a playoff was not necessary when Logan sank a 5m downhill putt on the final green to take both titles.

He began with a 2-under 71 on Wednesday but dropped back with a disappointing 77 in the second round.

Logan turned 2-under in the final round but lost two shots coming home before his impressive finish.

He now travels to Taupo to compete in the National Maori tournament in which he must start as one of the favourites.

However, his final-round performance was not enough to get the Otago under-19 team home and it finished second, five shots behind Canterbury.

Otago started with an eight-shot lead but only Conor Jamison with a par 73 gave Logan good support while Canterbury's Kilpatrick and former Waikato representative Matthew Morris bettered par.

Canterbury made it a double as it led the under-16 team event from start to finish. Tasman was second and an improving Otago quintet finished third.

Hiroki Miya (Canterbury) easily won the under-15 title while Momoka Kobori (Rangiora) blitzed the girls event with sub-par rounds of 68, 70 and 73.

Kobori is on target to become one of New Zealand's top women golfers, having also won the senior South Island title at St Clair in February.

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