Rep golf in Gisborne next month

A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.

Poverty Bay-East Coast contenders for national interprovincial tournaments will get a welcome taste of top-quality matchplay in Gisborne next month.

Wellington and Hawke’s Bay masters squads will be coming through for a 54-hole quadrangular against PBEC masters and senior  teams at the Poverty Bay course on July 22-23.

It is mutually beneficial for all sides, particularly the Wellington and Hawke’s Bay masters, as the Freyberg Masters national interprovincial  is being held at Poverty Bay in November. The New Zealand men’s interprovincial is at the Paraparaumu Beach course in December.

Next month’s round-robin quad will involve eight-man squads — Wellington, Hawke’s Bay, PBEC  masters and a PBEC senior team.

There will be two rounds on the Saturday and one on Sunday.

PBEC masters selector Anaru Reedy said the masters team for the quadrangular were “pretty much” confirmed while the composition of the senior side was still being sorted out.

“It will be really good preparation for us . . . and we need it. Wellington will be strong and Hawke’s Bay no slouches either. We’ll have to be on our game.”

Unlike other golf provinces in the country, PBEC does not have any representative  events over the year other than the national interprovincials. PBEC teams used to take part annually in multiple representative quadrangulars against Bay of Plenty, Hawke’s Bay, Taranaki, North Harbour, Manawatu-Wanganui and Waikato but these ended several years ago.