Golf: Birdies break Bay hearts

DON'T ARGUE: No 5 Madison Noakes had a crushing victory. PHOTO/FILE

BLINK and what appears to have victory written all over it can rapidly mutate to a gut-wrenching defeat in the premier amateur teams' golf tournament in the country.

"It turned sort of like wins into defeats within five or six seconds so it was pretty heart breaking," said co-selector/manager Steffan Hepburn yesterday after the Hawke's Bay senior men's team succumbed 3-2 to neighbours Poverty Bay East Coast in what the former traditionally would have ticked as a win.

"Both lost on the last holes and both lost to birdies," lamented Hepburn after the only round of play in the morning on day three at the Ngamotu Golf Club in New Plymouth.
On the 150m, par 3 hole, No 2 seed Dallas Williams dropped on to the real estate but his Poverty Bay rival, Peter Kerekere, found himself a metre shy.

Kerekere's chip rattled the pin to roll into the cup to prevail 1 up.

Bay top seed Russell Mitchell did admirably to claw his way back from two down to be all square with his counterpart, Nathaniel Cassidy, and touched down from the tee off on almost the same spot as Williams.

"His mate [Cassidy] was 20m down from the green and he just holed it."

However, No 3 Tyson Tawera earlier found himself on the right side of the ledger when he pipped William Brown 1 up although brother Carlos Tawera crashed 6 and 4 to Andrew Higham but No 5 Maddison Noakes had set the tone with a don't-argue 4 and 3 against Te Raumati Hawea.

Hepburn said the standard of play from both sides was high and one couldn't put the losses down to the last hole.

"It was a tough match because you play them a couple of times in the year so the guys know each other really well. It's one of those fixtures where on any given day it can go anyway," he said, revealing the Bay had been lucky to have had the wood on Poverty bay in the past few years.

"There's not much you can do about it ... because this golf is the way it is."
Hepburn started off the interview adamant they still had a sniffing chance if a couple of things went their way but reversed his optimism when Mitchell shook his head in the room.

"Russell's looking at me now and looking at the table so we can't make it but we can probably upset a couple of teams and stop them from getting in.

"We're out of the big dance ... but we can dash their hopes," he said, after yesterday's play still left enough permutations to keep the final four pixelated.

The gods didn't answer the Bay's prayers for inclement weather as a leveller, "leaving Mt Taranaki in full bloom".

"I reckon it was a bad omen because we hadn't seen it all week," he said.

While the Bay's opponents, Manawatu/Whanganui, also are out of the semifinals for today's game after BOP, Hepburn felt the neighbourly rivals would be playing for pride.

"It's going to be the bragging rights for the next 12 months, bro."

It hasn't helped the Bay's campaign that they lost two experienced amateurs in Brad Truesdale, to an Italian rugby club, and Steve Harris, who shifted to China because his partner got a job there, two months ago.

Younger players had stepped up but the Bay are still in the throes of rebuilding.

"It's a shame to lose good players just before a tournament but it's like anything, you know, you lose a player to a hamstring injury [just before kick off]."

Yesterday, Canterbury had a bye but Waikato, North Harbour, Otago and Wellington are all in contention for the playoffs final. BOP, sixth in line to make the cull, lost to North Harbour and face the Bay today.

The face-off between Wellington and Otago will be the feature match.