The defending champion St Clair team beat Taieri 6 to 2 at St Clair on Saturday to take a convincing lead in the Otago Coastal pennant series.
St Clair has 10 points and 23 games after the first four rounds, its points comprised of eight from four wins and two bonus points for beating North Otago and South Otago away.
Chisholm Park helped the St Clair defence by inflicting a stinging blow on Otago, winning 5 to 3 at home, leaving the second-placed Balmacewen team four points behind the leaders.
The win puts the Park team tied with Taieri on four points but remaining in fourth place, half a game behind Taieri.
St Clair had little trouble with Taieri in wet conditions, with former New Zealand representative Tony Giles leading the way, beating Hayden Reid in 11 holes.
Brent McEwan (St Clair) won the battle of the No 1 players, beating Mark Andrews on the 17th green.
Russell Newman and Brett Kennelly were the only Taieri winners, at the expense of St Clair captain Chris Idour and Dave Bowman, respectively.
It was a close tussle in the other match, with Simon Gallie (Otago) showing his matchplay prowess to beat Phillip Bungard 4 and 3.
Five of the eight matches finished on the final green, with a barrage of birdies scored.
Kyle Geary, the Park No 2, went to the final hole one up and halved it with Mitch Bosley in birdie threes to take the match.
The Park tail wagged to give the team the victory, with Ewan Soper, Peter Rae and Mat Booth all posting good wins.
The match between North and South Otago was not played as the Balclutha course was closed for all play after the wet weather.
This match will be played later.
