Bill Trewern

A young Balmacewen team was the toast of the Otago Club after it won the senior A pennant title in gusty conditions on the Lower Waitaki course in Oamaru yesterday.

Thomas Facer (Otago) showed his class in beating Anthony McCullough (Chisholm Park) 6 and 5 in the final to win the Otago schoolboys' championship at Chisholm Park yesterday.

Duncan Croudis (Otago) is hoping his knowledge of the hilly Balmacewen course will help him in his defence of the New Zealand under-19 men's title he won at North Shore last year.

Youth prevailed over age when Otago A won the senior A metropolitan pennant series by beating Taieri 4.5-1.5 at Balmacewen on Saturday.

Taieri will play Otago A in the inter-club pennants final at Balmacewen in two weeks' time after beating North Otago 4-2 at Taieri on Saturday.

After suffering a loss to North Otago in the final round in Oamaru on Saturday, the favoured St Clair men's pennant team has dropped to fourth place and will play no further part in the series this year.

Back-to-back birdies by Hamish Ireland on the final two holes gave him a half with Tyrone Ratahi and prevented the embarrassment of the Otago A team losing to its B team in a catch-up match at Balmacewen on Saturday.

The coastal pennant series looks set to be one of the most exciting for many years with the two heavyweight teams, St Clair and Otago A, halving three-all in the third round of the series at Balmacewen on Saturday.

Defending champion St Clair beat a strong and experienced Taieri team by a 4 to 2 margin at St Clair on Saturday to take the early lead in the local senior pennant series after the second round.