Monkey off Tairāwhiti’s back: Masters wooden spoon handed on to Southland

Unleash the beast . . . Tairāwhiti No.5 Neil Hansen tees off the first hole to begin a crunch final round clash with Southland at the Freyberg Masters men’s national interprovincial on the Awapuni Links course in Gisborne yesterday. Hansen halved his match as Tairāwhiti won 3½-1½ for their first team victory of the week. David Solomann and Tony Akroyd were the stars of the week for the home side. Auckland-based Solomann had five wins and Akroyd four. Solomann’s birdie on the last hole fittingly sealed the team triumph. Picture by Paul Rickard

There is a huge difference between 14th and 15th at the Freyberg Masters men’s national interprovincial tournament . . . the length of a wooden spoon to be exact.

Tairāwhiti men’s team know that all too well.

For the past three years, under the province’s former name Poverty Bay-East Coast, the symbolic spoon has travelled home with them.

Not this year.

In the ninth and final round of the 2023 edition of the over-40s matchplay tournament, Tairāwhiti handed the spoon to Southland on the Awapuni Links course yesterday afternoon.

Led by Anaru Reedy, the president of the recently reconstitutionalised Tairāwhiti Golf Association, Tairāwhiti beat the Mainlanders 3½-1½ to move one rung up the provincial ladder.

Reedy said at the start of the week that their mission from the get-go was to get off the bottom.

He and teammate Tony Akroyd were in the 2020, 2021 and 2022 sides and will vouch for how bitter 15th tastes.

Both played vital parts in yesterday’s triumph.

Reedy, at No.1 and battling leg issues all week, hobbled his way to a 3 and 2 win over Southland counterpart Bryan Cantley.

Akroyd, at No.2, blew away Brad Harper 5 and 4 for his fourth individual win of the week.

Earlier, No.5 Neil Hansen, playing in his first Freyberg Masters, halved his match with Ewan Clark.

Hansen was kicking himself after a poor final hole (the par-5 18th) after teeing off 1-up, but his half a point got the proverbial ball rolling.

With Tairāwhiti up 2½-½, they still needed another half-point for the team win and to leapfrog Southland.

Both teams went into the tie on half a team point apiece but Southland had 11½ individual points to Tairāwhiti’s 7½.

Tairāwhiti had to win and the tension was knife-edge as No.4 Peter Stewart and his Southland opponent Ngarimu Paraki headed down the 18th all-square.

Stewart, known affectionately to many as Legend, was searching for his first point after a few almosts.

He was down for a lot of the match but fought back valiantly only to fall at the death with a couple of bad shots to lose 1-down.

That left No.3 David Solomann — the big man with the big game when it comes to matchplay.

“Solly”, fresh off ending Bay of Plenty’s Craig Van Der Nagel six-match winning streak on Thursday afternoon, stepped up when it counted most.

All-square with Doug Carmichael playing the 18th, Solomann banged his second on for two and two-putted for birdie — his 2½-foot second putt sealing a memorable win.

Jace Brown sat out Tairāwhiti’s last tie.

Auckland snatched Freyberg Masters glory from the hands of Bay of Plenty in a dramatic final day.

Bay of Plenty led the tournament all week only to halve their Round 8 and final match

2½-all with Manawatū Wanganui.

That left Auckland with a chance of snatching the title with a superior number of individual wins.

Having defeated Otago 4½-½ in Round 8 yesterday morning, the Aucklanders’ task was clearcut — beat Manawatū Wanganui, which they did, 4-1.

That put Auckland and BoP on the same team points — seven — but Auckland ended with 28½ individual wins to BoP’s 26½.

Auckland’s only loss over the week was to Hawke’s Bay. They did not play BoP.

The Auckland team were Ben Westgate, Scott Thrupp, Matt Cormack, Brad Winger and Jack Bull.