The St Clair Saints have sealed top spot and sit in pole position to host the metropolitan senior A final with a week of the round robin remaining.
St Clair had a tight victory over the Otago Bombers at the St Clair club in sleety conditions on Saturday.
Chisholm Links and the Otago B52s also earned maximum points to secure semifinal berths with some final-round jostling set to decide the semifinal programme in a fortnight.
Both games were played in changeable, sleety conditions with greens covered in ice at times during play.
At Balmacewen, a tight contest went the way of the Otago B52s over Taieri Lakes.
Most of the games were one-way traffic, but a result from one of youngest juniors in the competition against a wily veteran on the final green proved the difference.
It was one game apiece early with 7/6 wins at the top order from Andrew Hobbs (B52s) and Jarrod Mitchell (Taieri Lakes).
Hayden Robertson put the visitors in front with a 6/5 win over Lewis Harper but the B52s middle order swung the momentum back with wins from Lachlan Coutts and Brian Helton.
That left Mark Andrews (Taieri Lakes) and Jonty Smith facing the last hole to decide the results.
Andrews was 1-up on the tee but found the heavy conditions tough going, taking four shots to find the green, while Smith’s comfortable bogey was enough to give the B52s a key victory, effectively ending Taieri Lakes’ finals chances.
At St Clair, the Saints maintained their perfect record in a typically close battle.
Most of the matches hung in the balance throughout but in typical fashion in 2025 — home teams have been finishing stronger — the Saints edged out the Bombers on the final hole.
Parker Aluesi and Connor Howes continued their stellar season with solid wins to get the Saints on the board before Luke Murdoch and Callum Judkins squared the ledger.
Albie Reed pulled ahead in a tight match, making it 2-0 in this year’s battle with Duncan Croudis to give the Saints a third win, while Tony Giles and Ben Patston could not be separated, both making par on the last for a half, giving the Saints the victory and clinching top spot.
Chisholm Links gained 3.5 games after Island Park’s second default in as many weeks.
Island Park have defaulted their final game to St Clair next week due to player availability, meaning the Bombers will settle in second place and have an opportunity to perhaps trial players next week for finals should they be called upon.
— Michael Minty
