Golf: Title still wide open in Otago

The Toro Men's Interprovincial title remains wide open after play today at the Otago Golf Club.

Otago continued their good form this morning with a hard fought 3 - 2 win in their local derby with Canterbury.

But they let that momentum slip this afternoon when they were humbled by Tasman 5- 0 to suffer their first loss of the championship.

Fellow Division Two frontrunners Waikato, who also got off to a perfect start on day one with wins over Hawkes Bay and Taranaki, also lost their way on day two.

They had the bye this morning and then defending champions Southland beat them 3 - 1 this afternoon with wins from Scott Hellier and Liam Balneaves securing the victory.

Southland, who last year won the title for the first time in 60 years, has performed well so far without New Zealand No1 amateur Vaughan McCall.

The men from the deep south have won all three of their matches to lead division one.

Wellington have also made a solid start to the week at Balmacewen.

Their No1 player Marc Jennings got them home this morning winning one-up at the last hole over Cameron Grant to finish off a 3 - 2 win over Aorangi.

They backed that up this afternoon with Fraser Maclachlan, James Donnelly and Adam Church providing the spine of their 3 - 2 over Taranaki.

Auckland is having a mixed time. They were well beaten 4 -1 in round three by Manawatu - Wanganui before they defeated Aorangi 3-2 in a crucial match for their chances.

Canterbury kept in touch with the leaders after a 3 1/2 - 1 1/2 win over Poverty Bay East Coast.

Poverty Bay provided the upset of the Toro so far when they defeated North Harbour 4 - 1 in round three.

Bay of Plenty, who has won the Toro six times and has been one of the most successful in the recent era, beat a confident young Northland team 3 - 1 this morning before dismissing North Harbour 4 - 1.

The format of the championship sees the 15 teams split into two divisions with the top two teams from each division advancing to the semifinals on Saturday with the final to be contested on Saturday afternoon.

After two days of action at the oldest golf club in New Zealand the prized national team's trophy is still wide open.


Round Three Results

Southland 4 Hawkes Bay 1

Tyler McLean bt Richard Squire 2up, Scott Hellier bt Ben Swinburne 3/1, Liam Balneaves bt Russell Mitchell 1up, Jeremy Hall bt Max Gill 5/4, Matt Tautari lost to Madison Noakes 2/1

Manawatu / Wanganui 4 Auckland 1

Josh Munn halved with Sam An, Lachie McDonald bt Nick Voke 4/3, Trent Munn bt Tae Koh 5/4, Junior Tatana bt Jonathan Ratcliffe 4/3, Hayden Ring halved with Josh Leitch

Bay of Plenty 3 Northland 1 1/2

Brad Kendall lost to Luke Brown 2/1, Peter Lee bt Alex Neely 6/4, Sam Davis bt Chase McKeown 1up, Victor Janin halved with Sean Masters, Landyn Edwards bt Brad Bonnington 2/1

Otago 3 Canterbury 2

Brent McEwan bt Jordan Bakermans 3/2, Michael Smith lost to Owen Burgess 2down, Samson Kim lost to Harry Bateman 1down, Brandon Hodgson bt Nic Kay 3/2, Tony Giles bt Tom Turner 5/3

Wellington 3 Aorangi 2

Marc Jennings bt Cameron Grant 1up, Fraser Maclachlan lost Jordan Green 4/3, James Donnelly bt Garth Simpson 4/3, Adam Church lost to Damian Rodgers 2down, Peter Brinsdon bt George Wardell 2/1

Poverty Bay EC 4 North Harbour 1

Steven Donnelly lost to Cam Jones 1down, Andrew Higham bt Kevin Budden 3/2, William Brown bt James Davis 3/1, Ruel Pedersen bt David Feeny 3/2, Matthew Mackey bt Jason Gulasekharam 3/2

Round Four Results

Tasman 5 Otago 0

Blair Riordan bt Brent McEwan 3/2, Hamish Campbell bt Michael Smith 2/1, Ryan Chisnall bt Samson Kim 2/1, Glenn Drummond bt Brandon Hodgson 1up, Nick Ludbrook bt Tony Giles 1up

Wellington 3 Taranaki 2

Marc Jennings lost to Brad Hayward 7/6, Fraser Maclachlan bt Jaime Reid 1up, James Donnelly bt Zac Lewis 3/2, Adam Church bt Joseph Doyle 2/1, Peter Brinsdon lost to Brook Gray 2/1

Canterbury 3 Poverty Bay EC 1 1/2

Jordan Bakermans bt Steven Donnelly 3/2, Owen Burgess bt Andrew Higham 6/4, Harry Bateman bt William Brown 5/4, Nic Kay lost to Ruel Pedersen 1down, Jason Yoo halved with Matthew Mackey

Southland 3 1/2 Waikato 1

Tyler McLean halved with Compton Pikari, Scott Hellier bt Tom Brockelsby 4/2, Ho Jun Sung bt Liam Balneaves 5/4, Jeremy Hall bt Steven Kuggeleijn 2up, Matt Tautari lost to Nick Coxon 1down

Auckland 3 Aorangi 2

Sam An bt Cameron Grant 6/5, Nick Voke lost to Jordan Green 2down, Tae Koh bt Garth Simpson 6/5, Jonathan Ratcliffe bt Damian Rodgers 7/5, Josh Leitch lost to George Wardell 3/2

Manawatu / Wanganui 3 Hawkes Bay 1 1/2

Josh Munn halved with Richard Squire, Lachie McDonald bt Ben Swinburne 1up, Trent Munn bt Russell Mitchell 5/4, Junior Tatana lost to Madison Noakes 3/2, Hayden Ring bt Carlos Tawera 1up

Bay of Plenty 4 North Harbour 1

Brad Kendall bt Cam Jones 4/3, Peter Lee bt Kevin Budden 2/1, Sam Davis bt James Davis 5/4, Victor Janin bt David Feeny 3/2, Landyn Edwards lost to Jason Gulasekharam 4/3


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