Golf: Bay defend their junior title

Bailey Smith led Bay of Plenty to the Junior Interprovincial title. Photo / File

Bay of Plenty have successfully defended their Junior Interprovincial title in a tense finish at the Cambridge Golf Club on Saturday.

The team from the Bay defeated North Harbour 5-3 in their final match to complete a perfect winning record from six rounds to finish on 12 points, in the format where two points were awarded for a team win, one for a draw and none for a loss.

Bay of Plenty finished the six rounds two points clear of Auckland, who won their final match against Canterbury 4.5-3.5, but will rue their poor performance in the penultimate round against Otago. The wins sees Bay of Plenty join Auckland on four wins as the most successful teams in the annual event which began in 2000.

Promising Bay of Plenty reps Bailey Smith, Tyler King, Harry Hillier, Joshua Rookes and Kingsley Wright delivered the crucial wins in round six to complete the title defence.

The event, created to replace the one or two day fixtures around the country, saw 10 teams from around New Zealand compete in the Waikato.

Bay of Plenty's victory means Auckland, the inaugural champions, has not won the junior title since 2007.

The lads from the City of Sails will be disappointed with their fifth round performance when they were hammered 7-1 by Otago to hand Bay of Plenty the advantage.

Last year's runner-up North Harbour finished third, a further two shots back from Auckland on eight points.

The host province Waikato, who has finished runner-up in the past 14 years, completed a disappointing week when they finished in seventh place.

Most of New Zealand's best players - including Danny Lee, Josh Geary, Fraser Wilkin, Nick Gillespie, Mark Purser, Peter Lee, Tae Koh, Josh Munn and Tyler Hodge - have begun their golf careers in the Junior Interprovincial.

The eight-man teams were made up of five golfers under the age of 19 and three under the age of 16.

Junior Interprovincial

Cambridge Golf Club (win = 2 points, half = 1 point and loss = 0 points)

• 12 points Bay of Plenty, 10 Auckland, 8 North Harbour, 7 Northland, 6 Otago, Canterbury, 5 Waikato, 4 Manawatu / Wanganui, 2 Hawkes Bay, 0 Eastland