The Otago men's golf team beat Northland by 3 to 1 on the Otatara course in Invercargill yesterday morning to take top spot in section two and ensure a place in the semifinals of the Toro interprovincial this morning.
Otago will play Bay of Plenty for a place in the final six. It is the same opponent Otago lost to in the semifinal at North Shore two years ago.
After a dog-fight in section one, Waikato held on to first place after winning the first four games and will play Northland this morning.
With nothing left to play for, a listless Otago team lost its way yesterday afternoon, suffering its first loss of the week and gifting Wellington a 5-0 win.
Otago coach Ben Gallie said the players lacked their usual intensity because the job had already been done in the morning round.
''Our goal was to qualify top in our section and I am pleased that we achieved that with one round to spare,'' Gallie said.
''I have no concerns about our afternoon performance and I am confident that the boys will be back on task in the playoffs.''
Brent McEwan played his 100th Toro game in the morning and did well in front of a large entourage of family and friends.
He made an impressive start to be 4up after six holes but lost the next three holes to turn one ahead.
He halved the first four holes of the back nine with Northland's Alex Neely but sank a 10m putt for a birdie 3 on the 14th to go two ahead and eventually won on the 17th green.
At No1, Duncan Croudis had his work cut out against Luke Brown and turned 1down with six front-nine holes halved.
He won the 10th and went 3up with a birdie three holes later but lost the next two holes, reducing the margin to one.
Brown sank two 4m birdie putts on the next two holes to take the lead, and Croudis and Brown halved the 17th in birdies.
Croudis made a birdie on the final hole to halve the match when Brown could manage only a bogey 5.
Nick Borren, at No2, was three ahead at the turn, eventually winning at three ahead on the 16th green.
Fraser MacLachlan (No4) had his third consecutive convincing win, this time by 4 and 3 against Northland's Taylor Gill.
Following four wins in Otago's first three days, Chris Snow suffered his first loss of the tournament, going down to Sheldon Kearns by 2 and 1.
Snow, Otago's best finisher, tasted a bit of his own medicine when Kearns birdied 15, 16 and 17 to reverse Snow's lead and win with one hole to spare.
The afternoon signalled the ''changing of the guard'' with reserve Inia Logan (17) coming in at No5, while MacLachlan took time out.
Logan was one of the better performers on debut but had a narrow loss to Ben Slaven on the final green.
McEwan sustained his first loss at the hands of Elton Nicholson on the 17th green, while Borren went down to New Zealand amateur champion Daniel Hillier on the final green.
Wellington's Jonathan Cane was too good for Croudis, while Snow posted his second loss, this time to Kerry Mountcastle by 4 and 3.
