Performed well but outplayed on the day

SAVED A WHITEWASH: Tony Akroyd had an excellent 2-up win over Wellington’s Brad Rowland yesterday, as Poverty Bay-East Coast went down 4-1. In the afternoon the team went down 1½ to 3½ against Northland — with David Solomann claiming the win and Simon Jeune winning the 18th hole for a half. File picture

There was no man more relieved after his first tee shot at the Freyberg Masters yesterday afternoon than Pete Stewart.

“He let out a big sigh of relief after he smashed his drive on the first hole down the middle of the fairway,” Poverty Bay-East Coast teammate Simon Jeune said.

Stewart made his debut at the over-40s interprovincial matchplay tournament at Timaru Golf Club as a replacement for Anaru Reedy.

Battling an elbow injury, Reedy decided to sit out PBEC’s afternoon clash with Northland, giving Stewart his first official cap for PBEC. He played in a warm-up tie against Hawke’s Bay earlier in the year.

Stewart won that one but was outgunned by Northland No.5 Scott Wilson 5 and 3 as PBEC suffered two team losses.

They lost 4-1 to Wellington in the morning, then 3½ to 1½ to Northland.

The double defeat dropped them from 11th to 13th in the 15-province field.

The highlights of their efforts came from Tony Akroyd and David Solomann.

Akroyd had an excellent 2-up win over Wellington’s Brad Rowland to save the whitewash.

No.4 Solomann, as Jeune put it, “went stupid” against Northland’s Bob Shirley.

“Solly”, with Reedy on his bag, birdied the 10th, 11th, 12th and 14th holes on his way to a 4 and 3 win.

Jeune, at No.3, won the 18th hole for a half with Northland’s Nathan Jacoby.

“I played some good golf,” Jeune said, adding that they all played well.

No.1 Pete Anderson was a couple-under the card against Northland’s former professional Saali Herewini, who birdied the 15th, 16th and 17th to win 3 and 1.

Stewart had a few birdies in his round and could be happy with his performance on debut, said Jeune.

However, playing well against the likes of heavyweights Wellington, who Jeune said were “on fire”, was not enough.

The capital side ended the day at the top of the points table albeit by one individual point from Canterbury, who have played one less round.

There was only one round today. PBEC faced Tasman and have the bye tomorrow morning.

PBEC results from yesterday —Round 3, PBEC 1 Wellington 4: Pete Anderson lost 5 and 4 to Elton Nicholson, Tony Akroyd def Brad Rowland 2-up, Simon Jeune lost 4 and 2 to Malcolm Gullery, Anaru Reedy lost 3 and 2 to Mark Whalen, David Solomann lost 3 and 2 to Mike Trass.

Round 4, PBEC 1½ Northland 3½: Anderson lost 3 and 1 to Saali Herewini, Akroyd lost 5 and 4 to Brett Dormer, Jeune halved with Nathan Jacoby, David Solomann def Bob Shirley 4 and 3, Pete Stewart lost 5 and 3 to Scott Wilson.