Tessa trips the light fantastic

SURE-FOOTED DISPLAY: Tessa McDonald’s form was impeccable on golf’s “dance floor” — the greens — as she won both her matches for Hawke’s Bay-Poverty Bay at the national women’s interprovincial in Timaru yesterday.File picture by Paul Rickard

A DAVID Seymour-like performance on the dance floor transformed to Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire as Tessa McDonald made a double bounceback at the national women’s interprovincial golf tournament in Timaru yesterday.

McDonald won both her matches at No.1 for Hawke’s Bay-Poverty Bay as they beat Taranaki 3½-1½ yesterday morning then lost by the same margin to overall leaders Canterbury in the afternoon.

Those familiar with Act party leader Seymour’s Dancing With The Stars (DWTS) humiliation in 2018 will relate to McDonald’s struggles on the greens (aka “the dance floor” in golfing lingo) on Day 1 of the week-long matchplay tournament.

OK, she wasn’t that bad. Seymour took two left feet to a new level in his DWTS embarrassment. McDonald was merely out of sorts after having 37 putts in her Tuesday loss on the 18th to Northland’s Kylie Jacoby.

“I just couldn’t putt and you’re never going to win with that many putts,” she said.

Yesterday, however, dawned a new one and McDonald responded with the character and skill that define being at the top of the order.

She was 2-under the card on the Timaru Golf Club course in beating Taranaki No.1 Celeste McLean 4 and 3. in the morning.

And she was joined in the winner’s circle by teammate Janie Field, who powered to a 7 and 6 win at No.2, and No.4 Martha Mananea, who won 3 and 2, while No.5 Kayla Van De Ven had a half.

McDonald’s afternoon defeat of highly-rated Cantabrian Maddie May, who had emphatic wins in the first three rounds, needed a bit of something special.

“I was down almost the whole time,” McDonald said.

They came to the par-3 sixth hole (their 15th as they started on the 10th), where McDonald put her 7-iron tee shot to about three feet from the pin for a birdie and the win to go all-square.

McDonald slotted a 20-footer for birdie on the next hole to edge ahead.

The pair exchanged bogeys on the penultimate hole and May went into a hazard on the last for McDonald to triumph 2-up.

Team reserve Rahira Ellison, who replaced Kathy Olsen, squared her match while Field lost 3 and 2, Manaena 3 and 1 and Van De Ven 1-down.

The team defeat was a blow to Hawke’s Bay-Poverty Bay’s chances of making the semifinals of the tournament, which is missing powerhouses Auckland and North Harbour due to Covid-19.

After four rounds — one of those a bye for HBPB — they were sitting eighth out of the 11 provinces on one team point and six individual wins.

HBPB faced hosts Aorangi in the one round today and play Bay of Plenty and Manawatu-Wanganui tomorrow.

McDonald, who was heading to bed when contacted by The Herald around 8.15 last night, was feeling good about the rest of the week.

“I’ve got better as I’ve gone on.”