The 24-year-old, nine years older than both her opponents, lost 1-down to Auckland ace Vivian Lu and 3 and 1 to Wellington’s Darae Chung.
HBPB were beaten 5-0 by the superstar Auckland team — who had yet to drop an individual match let alone team points — and 3½-1½ by the capital’s side.
It left them bottom of their section after four rounds — HBPB had a bye in round 1 — on 0 team points and 2½ individual points.
That could change today as HBPB faced Aorangi and Taranaki, teams they fancied their chances against.
Defending champions Auckland rampaged towards the semifinals on a hot Hawke’s Bay day.
But 2018 New Zealand amateur champion Lu was made to dig deep against McDonald in a quality match that went to the wire.
McDonald, with mother Karen on her bag, had the chance to snatch a share of the honours on the par-5 18th hole only to watch her long eagle putt go agonisingly close.
Lu, whose previous matches had ended on the 14th and 12th holes, sank a tricky 5-footer for the birdie-half and victory.
McDonald was 2-under the card, a reflection of the challenge she faces at the top of the order.
Against Chung, McDonald found herself 4-down but fought back to close it to two only for her opponent to birdie the 17th for the win.
Heading into today, McDonald had faced three of the country’s top players in Lu, Chung and unbeaten Manawatu-Wanganui’s Tara Raj, who was four-from-four so far.
HBPB faced Aorangi this morning and Taranaki in the afternoon.
Yesterday’s individual success for HBPB yesterday came from veteran No.2 Janie Field, who lost 1-down to another young hotshot in Auckland’s Fiona Xu, then halved with Wellington’s Erika Cui.
HBPB No.4 and captain Martha Manaena had a 1-up win over Wellington’s Shontalia William.
Tessa McDonald chalked up her first win of the national interprovincial late this morning.
McDonald beat Aorangi’s Ginny Bolderston 4 and 3 in a 2½-all team draw.
