Two intriguing semifinals await in the Otago matchplay at Balmacewen today.
Ryan Bellamy (Port Chalmers) will play 2020 champion Matt Tautari (Green Acres) in a mouth-watering match-up, and Ben Patston (Otago) and Parker Aluesi (St Clair) will clash in the other semifinal.
Bellamy has had a super weekend so far and will be keen to maintain his form against the Southland No 1.
He will be wary of looking too far ahead but he will also be eager to go one step further than last year, when he fell to Phil Bungard in the final.
Bellamy, who earned the No 1 seed after Saturday’s 36 holes of strokeplay with a score of 141 (71 and 70), beat John McIntee (Chisholm Links) 7 and 6 in the quarterfinals.
Tautari, who qualified fourth with 74 and 72, beat Liam Hewitt 1-up in a Southland derby.
There were two big casualties on the other side of the draw as Patston knocked out Otago No 1 Tom Lee in the first matchplay round, and Luke Murdoch knocked out Otago clubmate Brandon Hodgson, who had earned the No 2 seed with qualifying rounds of 71 and 72.
Patston then beat Murdoch 4 and 3 in the quarterfinals, while Aluesi — seeded just 14th after qualifying — beat Liam Balneaves (Invercargill) 2 and 1.
