NZ Men's Interprovincial

The New Zealand Men’s Interprovincial was held last week at Whitford Park Golf Club in Auckland. The team was looking to improve on their 7th place finish last year at Hastings Golf Club.

Day 1 saw the team only have 1 match in the morning against the Shand Cup winners Wellington. It was always going to be a tough battle as it always is and Wellington came away with the win 4-1. Round 2 in the afternoon saw the team with the Bye so would not be back in action until day 2.

Day 2 saw the team up against North Harbour in the morning. Looking to bounce back from the loss to Wellington the team came away with a 2.5-2.5 draw.  In the afternoon the team was against Southland seeking to get their 1st win and stay in touch of the leaders. They did so with a solid 4-1 victory.

Day 3 saw the team needing to keep on winning. With all the teams only playing one round the team had an outstanding morning  against Auckland with arguably the shock of the tournament so far winning 3.5-1.5 . The win made the scenario simple for the final day. Win both games and a semi final birth was well within their sights.

Day 4 saw the team full of confidence. In the morning they faced a strong Bay of Plenty team with the team knowing that a win in the Battle of the Bays was needed. The matches were very tight with the team able to come away with a crucial 3-2 win. This setup the last round in the afternoon against Waikato basically becoming an elimination match. Win and the team is almost guaranteed a Semi Final. Continuing to ride the form of the last couple of days the team came away with a nail biting 3-2 win. The only thing that could deny them a semi final spot would be a draw between North Harbour & Auckland who were playing at the same time. North Harbour beat Auckland 4-1 to see North Harbour and Hawkes Bay go through to the Semi Finals.

The Semi final saw the team play against a very strong Canterbury team with fellow NZ Squad Reps Kazuma Kabori playing against Mako Thompson. It made for a very tight tussle with Canterbury narrowly leading after 9 holes 3-2. Tyson Tawera was the 1st match to finish with a 5-4 loss against Reid Hilton. The next match to finish saw Stu Duff going down 4/3 to Zack May. Unfortunately for the team Zack Swanwick after a tight tussle all day with Mike Toeke lost 2/1 seeing Canterbury through to the finals. Mako Thompson had a great battle with Kazuma managing to beat his fellow NZ squad member 1up. Russell Mitchell did the same against Matt McLean winning 1up to see the team score end at 3-2.

The team ended in a fantastic 3rd place which is great work from the team and all those involved!

The Women’s Interprovincial starts on Tuesday 31st. Keep an eye on our facebook page for updates after each round.

For a full breakdown off all the weeks play see:

https://www.golf.co.nz/NewsMedia/Article.aspx?id=4332&topickey=National&topicid=770675&src=tournament-news&CompetitionId=770675