Otago, which had a bye in the fourth round yesterday afternoon, is level with Waikato and North Harbour in division two with six points, although it trails those teams by one game on countback with 12 games.
All five Otago players were ahead or square at the turn yesterday but late charges by the Tasman middle order led to a nail-biting finish as Lisa Henderson (No 2) and Shani Arona (No 3) forged ahead on the final two holes.
Otago No 1 Monica Tulisi turned two ahead of Katrina Manaena and went three in front when she won the 14th hole with a par.
Tulisi could have finished the match but for missing a 1m putt on the 15th green but took 4 and 2 honours one hole later when Manaena failed to make a par.
Henderson turned one ahead of Emily Stenhouse and went two in front by winning the 14th but Stenhouse then won two in a row to get back to square.
However, Stenhouse encountered bunker trouble on the 17th and bogeyed the final hole giving Henderson a two up win.
Arona lost holes early on the homeward nine to be two down to Tasman's Lesley Baxter after 12 holes.
Arona staged a comeback winning the 14th and 15th holes and snatched a crucial win on the final hole with an excellent par.
At No 4, Laura Hoskin had a close match with Andrea Corbett but took the lead to be ahead by one with three holes to play.
But she lost the lead on the 15th and overshot the green with her approach to the 18th to lose by one.
Jo Hicks-Beach played steady golf, winning three in a row at the start of her back nine and was never threatened by Sarah Rutledge, winning with three holes to spare.
Otago has a tough draw today, meeting two strong teams, North Harbour in the morning and Waikato in the afternoon.
Meanwhile, defending champion Auckland was able to ease its champion player Cecilia Cho back into action yesterday to continue its unbeaten run.
Cho flew in on Tuesday night after returning from victory in the prestigious Aaron Baddeley junior international in China.
Her team captain Kaye Carroll had the luxury of resting her yesterday morning while replacement Emily Eng won all of her games until Cho made a winning start as Auckland eased to a 4-1 victory over Aorangi South Canterbury yesterday afternoon.
The cream began to rise to the top yesterday with Auckland jumping into the lead in division one on countback from 2007 champion Bay of Plenty.
Host Wellington is third in the section after it was held to a half with Southland in a tight afternoon match which followed a morning bye.
It was a top effort from Southland, which did not get a point last year.
It went close to an upset over Bay of Plenty losing 3-2 in the morning before getting a 2 to 2 result against Wellington, with Anne Osment coming from 4-down with seven holes to play to gain a half in the decider against Alanah Braybrook.
North Harbour had a whitewash 5-0 over Taranaki in division two in the morning round but was pushed by Tasman 3-2 in the afternoon.
Waikato has worked solidly into contention with two 4-1 wins yesterday over Manawatu-Wanganui and Taranaki with Kelly Nicholas, Charlotte and Hannah Seifert remaining unbeaten.