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Division One was dubbed as the pool of death and so it proved as the two most successful teams in the Toro Men’s Interprovincial history, Wellington (13 wins) and Auckland (12), fought it out with a place in the final at stake.
Auckland number one Ryan Fox, who is trying to win his first Toro Interprovincial title before he turns professional, won the feature match of the day 1up against his good mate and Wellington rival Ben Campbell.
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(Image courtesy of Photosport)
But the team contest was already won by that stage when Auckland number two Fraser Wilkin defeated Thomas Spearman Burn 1up to put the point beyond reach. Auckland won in the end by 4 – 1.
Wilkin made a crucial birdie on the 17th that was deciding moment of the match.
“It was a putt I felt comfortable over straight away and it was an easy putt by my mind,” said the Royal Auckland member.
“I am really happy with the way our boys have fought back the past couple of days. We have won when we needed to the most.”
New Zealand rep Sam An was another of Auckland’s heroes on the final day of pool play as he made nine birdies in 13 holes to win 6 and 4 against Adam Church.
Auckland, who hasn’t won the title since 1995, has made a remarkable comeback to reach the semifinals after they suffered a shock defeat against Northland and then lost a close battle with Canterbury.
“We didn’t expect to be in this position after the first two rounds so it has been a good couple of days,” said Fox.
The match between Campbell and Fox matched the expected high quality with them shooting four under and five under respectively.
“Ben and I had a good fun match today, we traded birdies early and then I made a good putt from about 15 feet on the sixth (15th for the tournament) that was really important.
“It is nice to still be in this and I am hoping to go out [as an amateur] on a high.”
In the other decisive match in Division One Canterbury confirmed their place in the final four with a comfortable 5-0 win over Hawkes Bay.
“We stepped up today and played really well,” said manager Rod Hayes.
“We made a change with Harry Bateman coming in and he has gone really well for us winning three from three. The depth of our team to our reserve is our strength. The Canterbury selectors said before the tournament that we’d be comfortable having our number six in because they are all quality players.”
On the other side of the draw Bay of Plenty progressed as the only undefeated team with six wins from six matches in Division Two.
The Bay, who have won three of the past four titles, booked their place in the semi-finals tomorrow with an emphatic 41/2 to ½ win over Aorangi South Canterbury.
“It was a very, very good all round effort,” said Bay of Plenty Aaron Walsh.
“Especially in the last couple of days I think we only missed half a point in the last two days so that was an almost perfect display of golf. We have the business end tomorrow and we’re ready to go.”
Walsh paid tribute to the unbeaten play of Landyn Edwards and James Hamilton as the spine of the team.
“Our middle order has been very strong and Brad Kendall has won three in a row now and we are well led out by Craig Hamilton and Sam Davis. It has been a real team effort.
“We said to Brad at the start of the week when he was struggling lets have you firing at the end of the week when we need you most and he will have a fantastic day tomorrow I am sure.”
Edwards, who is playing in his third Toro Interprovincial event, is looking forward to the challenge of the semi-finals and beyond.
“I am playing really well, hitting the ball great and making my birdie putts,” said Edwards.
“It will be tough in the semis and the final but I hope my experience of being around for a few years helps.
“It is heaps of fun in this team environment, we all get on so well tomorrow and we are going to have some fun tomorrow.”
There was plenty of drama in finding the other semifinalist from Division Two as the contest between Southland and Tasman was a winner take all match.
With four matches in the hut and the scores all tied at 2-2 so it came down to the number ones Vaughan McCall and Blair Riordan.
Riordan was Dormy two and needed to win with Southland’s points advantage but McCall fought hard for the vital half to help Southland progress.
The New Zealand rep made a clutch left to right birdie on the 17th from eight feet to be 1down heading down 18 and when Riordan found the greenside bunker on the last the match was Southland’s.
“That was huge,” said the 20-year-old McCall from the Gore Golf Club.
“I knew my team’s fortunes were riding on the last two holes and there was a lot of pressure. It is why you play golf to be in those situations and all the boys were exceptional. I am just pleased we made it through.
“It was a great birdie on the 17th a putt that was left edge and yeah it was good to go straight in the centre of the cup.
Southland has never won the Toro Interprovincial title and McCall was excited about a rare opportunity to get the Maroon and Golf on the trophy.
“We just have to take it shot by shot tomorrow, I hope we can go all the way.”
Southland plays Auckland tomorrow and Bay of Plenty is up against Canterbury with both semifinals teeing off at 7:30am and the final of the Toro Men’s Interprovincial at 12:30pm.
Division One Leaderboard (Individual wins)
4 (22) Auckland
4 (21) Canterbury
4 (18) Wellington
3.5 (19.5) Manawatu / Wanganui
3 (11.5) Northland
3 (10.5) Taranaki
1.5 (10) Hawkes Bay
1 (7.5) Poverty Bay EC
Division Two Leaderboard
6 (24) Bay of Plenty
4.5 (18) Southland
4 (17.5) Tasman
2.5 (15.5) North Harbour
2 (12) Waikato
1.5 (11.5) Otago
0.5 (6.5) Aorangi South Canterbury
For more information, contact:
Peter Thornton
New Zealand Golf Media and PR Manager
021 482 788
2011 TORO New Zealand Men’s Interprovincial
Round Six
Friday 25 November
Bay of Plenty 5 Waikato 0
Brad Kendall bt Mat Perry 1up, Landyn Edwards bt Leonard Morgan 2up, James Hamilton bt Compton Pikari 1up, Sam Davis bt Daniel Graham 2/1, Craig Hamilton bt Jason Boobyer 4/3
Hawkes Bay ½ Auckland 4 1/2
Ben Swinburne lost to Ryan Fox 1up, Sam Penrice lost to Fraser Wilkin 1up, Kieran Goodall halved with Sam An, Paul Malcolm lost to Jonathan Ratcliffe 4/3, Justin Campbell lost to Tae Koh 3/2
Man / Wang 1 Canterbury 4
Josh Munn lost to Keelan Kilpatrick 2/1, Tyler Hodge 5/4 Jordan Bakermans, Lachie McDonald bt Tom Turner 1up, Rhys Watkins lost to Mark O’Malley 3/2, Trent Munn lost to Harry Bateman 3/2
North Harbour 2 ½ Tasman 2 1/2
Cameron Jones halved with Blair Riordan, Kevin Budden bt Hamish Campbell 1up, Anthony Cope lost to Ryan Chisnall 1up, Aaron Garnett lost to Tom Dasler 3/2, Stewart Gray bt Nick Ludbrook 2/1
Southland 3 Otago 2
Vaughan McCall lost to Brent McEwan 2/1, Cody Harper lost to Andrew Hobbs 4/3, Liam Balneaves bt Tyrone Ratahi 4/3, Scott Hellier bt Mitch Bosley 4/3, Matt Tautari bt Simon Hollyer 4/2
Wellington 5 Taranaki 0
Ben Campbell bt Brad Hayward 2/1, Thomas Spearman-Burn bt Tim White 3/1, Adam Church bt Thomas Hill 5/4, Marc Jennings bt Zach Lewis 6/5, Peter Brinsdon bt Murray Martin 1up
Round Seven
Poverty Bay EC 3 1/2 Northland 1 ½
Simon Jenkins lost to Brad Bonnington 3/2, William Brown bt Kadin Neho 3/2, Steven Donnelly bt Lee Neumann 5/4, Andrew Higham bt Alex Neely 4/3, Dion Milner halved with Sean Masters
Southland 2 ½ Tasman 2 1/2
Vaughan McCall halved with Blair Riordan, Cody Harper lost to Hamish Campbell 3/2, Liam Balneaves lost to Ryan Chisnall 5/4, Scott Hellier bt Tom Dasler 5/4, Matt Tautari bt Nick Ludbrook 1up
Taranaki 0 Man / Wang 5
Brad Hayward lost to Josh Munn 5/3, Tim White lost to Tyler Hodge 4/3, Thomas Hill lost to Lachie McDonald 2/1, Zach Lewis lost to Rhys Watkins 4/3, Murray Martin lost to Trent Munn 1up
Aorangi 1/2 Bay of Plenty 4 1/2
Tim Leonard lost to Brad Kendall 3/1, Scott Fox lost to Landyn Edwards 4/3, Owen Millar lost to James Hamilton 4/2, Damian Rodgers halved with Sam Davis, Robbie Bell lost to Craig Hamilton 6/5
North Harbour 3 Otago 2
Cameron Jones bt Brent McEwan 1up, Kevin Budden bt Andrew Hobbs 3/2, Anthony Cope lost to Tyrone Ratahi 1up, Aaron Garnett lost to Chris Snow 2up, Stewart Gray bt Mitch Bosley 2/1
Canterbury 5 Hawkes Bay 0
Keelan Kilpatrick bt Ben Swinburne 6/4, Jordan Bakermans bt Sam Penrice 5/4, Tom Turner bt Kieran Goodall 1up, Mark O’Malley bt Paul Malcolm 2up, Harry Bateman bt Justin Campbell 6/5
Wellington 1 Auckland 4
Ben Campbell lost to Ryan Fox 1up, Thomas Spearman-Burn lost to Fraser Wilkin 1up, Adam Church lost to Sam An 6/4, Marc Jennings bt Jonathan Ratcliffe 1up, Peter Brinsdon lost to Tae Koh 2/1
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