Golf: Southern team favoured

After winning the interprovincial matchplay title in Gisborne in December, the Southland quintet will start as favourites to win the Southland invitational tournament which starts on the Otatara course today.

Southland retains most of its team, with Tyler McLean joining the top five replacing Cody Harper, who recently won the Southland strokeplay with a 17-under-par total before turning professional.

The local boys have won the title twice - the inaugural event in 1977 and again in 1985 - and team manager Phil McDonald is keen to break the drought.

The Otatara course is in superb condition and is set up for some low scores, despite the incessant rain during yesterday's practice round.

The organisers have done a sterling job attracting considerable sponsorship for the event but have received a kick in the guts by the absence of two key North Island teams.

Bay of Plenty and North Harbour have pulled the plug on this year's event - the first provinces to be absentees in the 36-year history of the event.

In particular, the absence of Bay of Plenty could be perceived as poor sportsmanship after Southland beat it by a 3 to 2 margin in the provincial final.

Otago is led by Brent McEwan at No 1 while Simon Hollyer retains his place and will play at No 3.

The remaining three players have all represented Otago previously but make a welcome return after displaying good form in the recent stroke trials.

Nick Borren (22) returns to Otago after completing a four-year engineering degree at Canterbury University and will play at No 2 this weekend.

Thomas Facer (18) played in the national provincial in 2009 and the Southland tournament in 2010, and has emerged from a form slump to gain the No 4 position.

But the most significant returnee is Tony Giles who is a former Otago No 1 and a New Zealand representative on several occasions.

The sports goods wholesaler has been unavailable for many years and played his last interprovincial event in 1999.

In the intervening years, Giles (39) has irked many Otago golfers by coming out to represent St Clair in the senior A pennant series, with an impressive win-loss record.

 

 

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