Otago posted three wins and a-half to beat Auckland in the fifth round of the Freyberg Masters (over-40) men's tournament, which was played on the Coringa course in Christchurch yesterday.
The win levels the ledger for Otago with two wins and two losses at the halfway stage of the tournament, and the team is expected to perform well today against Aorangi this morning and Taranaki this afternoon.
Selected No1 John McIntee had the day off and Ken Shaw came into the team at No5 with the remaining four players all moving up one place, as the rules allow.
This put Queenstown's Simon Boland in the top spot and, despite losing the first hole to a birdie, he did not disappoint.
Boland won the second and third holes and turned three up and although he lost 11 and 12, he birdied the 14th and won on the following green.
Andrew Hobbs encountered tree trouble on the outward nine to turn three down but won two holes early on the back nine.
His unbeaten record looked in jeopardy when he was two down with four holes to play but he squared the match, winning 15 and the par-3 17th.
Hobbs holed a tricky downhill 6m putt on the final green to sneak home and make it four from four.
Greg Johnson met Auckland No3 Mark Anderson, who was on fire, notching birdies on 2, 4, 6, 10 and 12 after eagling the first hole.
Anderson was six under par when the match finished on the 12th green.
Gary Creedy was three up after four holes on an experienced Mike Leitch and turned six up with the help of three birdies.
Leitch fought back with two back-nine birdies but it was too little too late and Creedy won with two holes to spare.
Ken Shaw was playing his first competitive masters game at the event since suffering a workplace accident two years ago.
Shaw came up against Michael Barltrop, who was New Zealand's No1 amateur for more than a decade.
Shaw turned two behind but birdied 12, 14 and 15 to take the lead. The pair halved 16 and 18 but Shaw had to be content with a half after striking bunker trouble on the 17th and losing that hole.
