09 December 2010 - DAY 2 WRAP OF TORO INTERPROVINCIAL MEN'S TOURNAMENT: Drama drama drama!

Toro Interprovincials – Day 2 Wrap

The Toro Interprovincials brought more than their fair share of dramas on the second day of the men’s championship in Wellington today.

Players got out of their sick beds to win, others made costly misdemeanours while there were close calls and upsets on a testing day at the outstanding Paraparaumu Beach links on the Kapiti Coast.

Auckland and North Harbour are the only unbeaten teams while none of the 15 district teams have won all their games after four rounds.

Auckland lead division one after a half against Tasman in the morning before being pushed to edge out Taranaki 3 and 2 in the afternoon. The villain and the hero was Srixon Academy player Gary-John Hill who was penalised a shot for moving his ball marker on the final hole to lose his match and give Tasman the half. In the afternoon he made amends by winning three of his last five holes to grab the key half with Aorangi’s Steven Hayes which ensured the Auckland win.
Also pivotal was No 1 and Eisenhower representative Ryan Fox who won both his matches impressively today.

Otago, with a win over Taranaki and a narrow loss to Waikato in the afternoon, are second on two wins, ahead of Manawatu Wanganui on a countback of games, but all eight teams in the section cannot be counted out.

Northland deserve mention when their No 1 Scott Wightman, originally ruled out with a stomach virus, was called to play when Brett Dorman wrenched his shoulder in the warm-up. Wightman fired four birdies and an eagle on the way to his win over Bay of Plenty’s Brad Kendall.

The 2005 champions North Harbour lead division two with two wins and a half. They played their get-out-of-jail card to retain their unbeaten record. Harbour earned a half against Canterbury after the experienced Scott Johnson holed out with a 4 iron from 180m for a par on the 18th, while his opponent Mark O’Malley lipped out with the birdie putt from 3m. It gave Johnson the most unlikely result and his team a crucial half.

Aorangi are second on two wins and 11 individual games, on countback from Wellington and Hawkes Bay with only winless Poverty Bay out of the running.

Wellington, who lost on the opening day, edged Aorangi 3-2 with world amateur number 26 Ben Campbell winning two of his last three holes to grab the key victory. They went on to beat Poverty Bay easily in the afternoon to re-emerge as a threat.

Southland enjoyed a superb day, following their easy win over Poverty Bay, with an upset of South Island rivals Canterbury 3.5 to 1.5, with a key win to Jeremy Hall over the luckless O’Malley with a fine birdie on the last hole.
Tomorrow’s single round looms as a pivotal round with key clashes between Wellington and North Harbour, Auckland and Otago, Manawatu-Wanganui and Taranaki, Canterbury and Aorangi and Bay of Plenty and Tasman.

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09 December 2010 - DAY 3 WRAP OF TORO INTERPROVINCIAL MEN'S TOURNAMENT: Hawkes Bay, Otago & Taranaki...

TORO Interprovincials – Day 3 Wrap

Hawkes Bay, Otago and Taranaki – names not usually associated with provincial golfing glory – cling to title hopes going into tomorrow’s final day of section play at the TORO Interprovincials in Wellington.

Hawkes Bay lead their division after today’s fifth round as they chase their first Interprovincial title in more than 40 years. They are among a group of teams showing their teeth with two rounds of section play remaining tomorrow at Paraparaumu Beach Golf Club ahead of Saturday’s semifinals and final.

With three wins each, they lead Wellington on countback of individual games, half a point ahead of Canterbury and North Harbour, with Aorangi and Southland a further half a point back.

Auckland remain on top of their division with three wins, half a point ahead of Otago, Taranaki and Tasman.
Otago, who halved with  Auckland in a ripper today, have not won the Interprovincial title since 1982, Tasman for 15 years, Canterbury for a decade and Taranaki have never had their named etched on the trophy in the event’s 60 year history.

Hawkes Bay ran rampant over neighbours Poverty Bay East Coast 4.5 to 0.5 today to push to the top of their division while Wellington were forced to work hard to hand North Harbour their first loss 3-2 with Capital captain Adam Church winning the crucial game with a late run.

Canterbury bounced back from yesterday’s shock loss to Southland to vanquish neighbours Aorangi 5-0 to provide a handy advantage should a countback be required.

They face a daunting final day with matches against Hawkes Bay and Wellington, while Harbour face a less hazardous route against winless Poverty Bay and Aorangi.

Otago loom large after their excellent halved result against Auckland, on the back of the game of the tournament thus far with Brett McEwan beating Eisenhower representative Ryan Fox 2 and 1 in the clash of the No 1s. The pair fired 11 birdies between them in an outstanding exhibition, with the Otago player running hot with five straight birdies mid-round.
Auckland No 5 Jason Mann made an excellent birdie after a wayward drive to grab the half to secure half a point for his team.

Taranaki recovered from two losses yesterday to grab an excellent 3.5-1.5 win over in-form Manawatu-Wanganui  while Tasman continued the misery for defending champions Bay of Plenty 3-2 to compound the log-jamb of teams with semifinal aspirations in division one.

The disappointing Bay of Plenty could prove a major impediment as they take on frontrunners Auckland and Otago tomorrow while the Manawatu-Wanganui-Otago and Taranaki-Northland could prove pivotal to the final playoff spots.
For details: www.golf.co.nz
 

08 December 2010 - DAY 1 WRAP OF TORO INTERPROVINCIAL MEN'S TOURNAMENT: Favourites succumb

Favourites succumb on opening day of Toro Interprovincials

Pre-tournament favourites Wellington and defending champions Bay of Plenty were both toppled on the opening day of the Toro Interprovincials on the Kapiti Coast today.

The hosts Wellington were ousted by Hawkes Bay 3-2 in the morning’s first round, while Taranaki, last in the 2009 interprovincials, downed Bay of Plenty 3-2 in the afternoon at Paraparaumu Beach Golf Club.

Wellington, with two Eisenhower Trophy representatives, came to Paraparaumu with high expectations.

They were stopped by a strong Hawkes Bay combination led by North Island champion Nick Gillespie who beat the New Zealand Amateur champion Ben Campbell 3 and 2, bagging six birdies in the process. The other wins went to Pieter Zwart and Richard Squire, who proved the key, coming from two-down after nine holes to win four in a row on the way to a 3 and 1 victory over James Betts, the local Paraparaumu player and 2008 national strokeplay champion.

Taranaki, a mixture of youth at the top of their order and experience at the bottom, must have found a zip in their step from their bright yellow and black checkered pants – a la John Daly – as they held Waikato to a 2½ to 2½ half in the morning round.

That was proven no fluke when they pushed hard in the afternoon against Bay of Plenty, hoping to become just the second team to ever win the title four times in a row.

Taranaki got wins to Brad Hayward, over national strokeplay champion Brad Kendall, and Aarun Langton while Bay got wins to Andrew Stewart and Landyn Edwards, who bagged five birdies.

The key came when veteran Murray Martin managed a 1-up victory over Bay captain Kieran Muir to give his side the overall honours.

This left Taranaki, the cellar dwellers last year, as the leading team in division one with a win and a half  while Aorangi South Canterbury, 12th in 2009, head division two with two wins along with North Harbour.

While Taranaki lead the way in their division, Auckland had a convincing win in their only match, Manawatu-Wanganui fought back from the morning loss to Northland to upset Waikato in the afternoon convincingly, while Otago scored a victory over Tasman.

The division has the unusual sight of Bay of Plenty at the bottom of the table.

In division two, Aorangi, who had only two wins in the entire tournament last year, win twice on the opening day, disposing of Poverty Bay and Southland. Their No 3 Simon Wright under par in winning both games, including five birdies in his afternoon victory over Southland’s Cody Harper.

Harbour beat Southland 4-1 in the morning and stepped up against Hawkes Bay in the afternoon after their barnstormer over Wellington in the morning.

With the match at 2-2, the result came down to the No 1s where Gillespie was unable to repeat his scoring blitz from the morning, giving up and early advantage to lose three in four holes to give Budden the 1-up advantage. The Hawkes Bay player won the penultimate hole but got himself into trouble on the last for Budden to claim the win and the match.
Canterbury were emphatic in their only match of the day to share third place with Hawkes Bay with Wellington joining Poverty Bay and southland in a winless opening day.

Section play continues until Friday with semifinals and final on Saturday.

Full details and results: www.golf.co.nz
 

04 December 2010 - DAY 4 WRAP OF TORO INTERPROVINCIAL TOURNAMENT: Auckland Sneak into Semifinals

Auckland Sneak into Semifinals