Mount golf ladies win BOP Pennant for first time

Mount Maunganui's winning team. Back, left to right, Aroha Tito, Gillian Lees, Judy Cameron, Irene McNair, Front, Sue Aitken, Kate Davidson, Sandra Winhoven. Photo / Supplied

Mount Maunganui won the BOP Ladies Championship Pennant final against Omanu on Sunday after a dramatic play-off in darkness at the Rotorua Golf Club on Sunday.

The final was played between two fiercely competitive teams. In what turned out to be an electrifying playoff between Alanna Campbell and Kate Davidson, Mount snatched the Brenda Milne Trophy from Omanu's grasp resulting in a fairy-tale end to a dramatic day.

After the morning foursomes, Mount won two out of their three matches. The top match involved Alanna Campbell, who is about to leave for America to take up a four-year golfing scholarship. Alanna was paired with Taylor-Rose Perrett and lost to the Mount's Aroha Tito and Kate Davidson on the 17th.

The middle pairings of Judy Cameron and Gillian Lees from the Mount managed a comeback from two down to win on the 18th against Omanu's Debbie Noble and Materere Stockman-Noble.

The afternoon singles were looking grim when Aroha went down to Alanna who played outstanding golf. The Mount five and six players, Sue Aitken and Sandra Winhoven, battled hard against Materere and Karen Waerea only to go down.

So Omanu only needed one point for victory.

Mount's Judy Cameron fought back from three down with six holes to play against Debbie Noble to win two up on the 18th and secure a point. Gillian Lees struggled with her short game against Susie-Jane Hikairo, but three wins on the last three holes (including a clutch 15-foot birdie on the 17th) secured a half point in her match.

Then Kate Davidson stepped up to the mark and won her match against Taylor-Rose on the 18th.

With the final score a draw, a playoff was agreed so Kate Davidson volunteered to take on Alanna and the two teed off in semi-darkness back down the 18th.

Kate hit a monster drive down the fairway and a nine iron 120m through the back of the green. Alanna also hit her approach through the back of the green resulting in both players having awkward downhill chips.

Kate chipped her shot within two feet of the pin, while Alanna went past the pin by 5 feet, horseshoeing her putt out the back of the hole. The gallery shone torches onto the green for the players to putt as Kate sank her putt in convincing fashion.

Omanu had previously won the trophy three times (and Rotorua seven times) since the trophy's inception in 2007.