After winning all round robin matches this year, Otago Blue qualified for the provincial final after beating St Clair 4 to 2 in the final of the men's senior A pennant final at Balmacewen on Saturday.
The win arguably flattered the Balmacewen Bombers, as three of the games finished on the final green.
For the second year, St Clair captain Brent McEwan rejigged the order and dropped himself to No 3, but Otago captain Brandon Hodgson responded by matching the move, to play McEwan in the final.
Hodgson birdied the first three holes but was only one up and turned two ahead after a birdie 3 on the par 4 ninth hole. McEwan birdied 11 and 12 to get back to square and the pair were square with three holes to play.
Hodgson's drive on the 16th went out of bounds and when he three-putted on the 17th green, the game was over.
But that was to be St Clair's only win as, with the revamped order, Otago had convincing wins in the top two matches.
Otago No 1 Nick Borren won the first three holes but veteran Greg Johnson won 6, 7 and 8 to get back to square at the turn.
Borren finished strongly and dominated the homeward nine, taking 10, 12, 13 and 14 to win with three holes to spare.
At No 2, in-form James Anstiss made a number of up and downs on the front nine to turn three ahead of Ryan Bellamy. He won two of the first three holes on the homeward nine, eventually giving Otago its second win on the 14th green.
At No 6, Jason Hughes gave Otago its third win, turning one ahead of Chris Snow and halving the final hole to win one up.
Playing at No 5, Tyrone Ratahi halved with Michael Ormandy but the win came after a seesaw match.
Ratahi was three up after six holes, but his lead was reduced to two when he lost a ball at the infamous Glen hole.
Ormandy birdied the par 3 12th to trail by one but lost the 14th to trail by two again. Ormandy won 16 and 17 and the pair played the final hole with everything at stake.
They halved the final hole and the match, giving Otago three wins and a half and an unassailable lead.
Daniel Elder (No 4) put the icing on the cake when he parred the difficult 18th to snatch a half with last year's St Clair hero, Stephen Hitchcox.
