Otago started well in this year's national interprovincial tournament with a 3½-1½ win over Tasman on the Ngamotu course in New Plymouth yesterday afternoon.
After finishing second in Invercargill last year, Otago had a bye in the morning while Tasman downed Taranaki in the first round.
Scoring was difficult in the gusty winds but No5 Chris Snow led the way, winning the first two holes to lead Brook Hale in the first match on the course.
Captain Snow lost the sixth but made a birdie at the seventh to return to being 2-up but the match remained tight.
Snow lost the 11th but won the next hole when Hale went out of bounds, leaving him two ahead with six holes to play.
Snow's drive was stymied behind a tree on the 16th reducing the margin to one, but he won the next hole with a par-4 to claim victory.
No4 Michael Smith always looked in control in his first national interprovincial match since 2012 and eventually beat Blair Bavin 4 and 3.
Smith put a 2-iron within a metre of the cup at the third to take the lead and increased his lead to two when Bavin drove into a hazard.
Bavin reduced the margin with a birdie on the eighth but Smith forged ahead on the back nine winning 11 and 13 to lead by three.
Smith hit a 7-iron to within a metre of the cup on the par-3 15th to close out the match.
No3 Inia Logan played Andrew Drummond and, despite losing the first hole, was two ahead after the first six holes.
However, he then lost five of the next six holes to trail by three with six holes to play.
He finished strongly, winning 14, 16 and 18 to square the match and give the Otago quintet an extra half game to the tally.
On debut, Brandon Hodgson lost the first hole but retaliated by winning three, four and six to go two ahead of Sam Nichols.
Nichols made a birdie-3 at the 10th to reduce the margin to one but Hodgson finished with a barrage of birdies at 13, 14 and 15 to finish the match.
No1 Fraser MacLachlan was not in his best form and some erratic driving cost him several opportunities.
His opponent, Ryan Chisnall, made the task more difficult with a barrage of birdies eventually taking the honours 5 and 4.
Southland lost its morning match to Canterbury, 16-year-old Hiroki Miya winning by an impressive 9 and 7 margin in his first national interprovincial match.
However, in the afternoon it caused the first upset of the tournament holding Wellington to a 2½-2½ draw.
The southern derbies continues today when Otago meets Southland this morning and Canterbury this afternoon.
