Newcomer Island Park has finished third after 10 rounds of the Dunedin metropolitan pennant series and will play Otago Blue at Balmacewen in the semifinal on Saturday.
The Island Park golfers finished with 13 points and 29.5 games after beating the Chisholm Links sextet by 3.5 to 2.5 after a tight tussle on the newly named Chisholm Links course.
Michael Wray withdrew from the Park team with a back injury. His place was taken by King's High School pupil Nelson Yorston.
Yorston had a baptism of fire when Links captain Mark Collie birdied four of the first five holes to go five up, eventually winning 7 and 6.
Park's top two players posted wins. Michael Minty beat Cody McMullan with one hole to spare, while Reagan Cairns downed Conor Jamison 3 and 2.
At No 6, Monty Wong and Peter Rae halved, leaving the final outcome dependent on the close scraps between the middle order masters (over 40) golfers.
These two matches between Gary Creedy and Sean Geary, and Andrew Hobbs and Kyle Geary, were halved, giving Island Park a narrow win.
At Balmacewen, Taieri did everything it could to get to the playoffs, beating Otago Gold with four wins and a half.
Callum Stringer (No 2) and Mark Andrews (No 4) set the scene with convincing wins over Jodin Johnston and Paul Hubbard respectively.
Brett Kennelly (No 3) and Ian Boath (No 6) grafted out last green victories while Ken Shaw at No 1 put the icing on the cake when he halved with Balmacewen's Peter Lamb.
For the second time in the series, St Clair and Otago Blue halved 3 3, which bodes well for an exciting final should the Balmacewen team prosper in the semifinal.
Otago Blue's top players, Duncan Croudis and Nick Borren, posted wins over Chris Snow and Michael Ormandy respectively, while it was St Clair's younger golfers who ensured the half.
At No 3, Ryan Bellamy had an impressive win at the expense of James Anstiss, who is taking a break from his golf scholarship and studies at Southeastern Louisiana University.
Connor Ross (No 4) beat Otago Blue captain Brandon Hodgson 3 and 2, while No 6 Jakob Bleach downed Daniel Elder with one hole to spare.
Otago's Tyrone Ratahi sealed the tie by beating veteran Stephen Hitchcox on the 17th green.
Metro pennants
Playoff schedule
July 11: Semifinal, Island Park v Otago Blue, Balmacewen
July 18: St Clair v semifinal winner, St Clair
