GOLF - Bay bow out but Gillespie top dog

Anendra Singh
IT'S quite common for words to fail sports people when the writing is on the wall.
After the Stortford Auto Sales-sponsored Hawke's Bay senior men's golf team bowed out of the Interprovincials in Bay of Plenty yesterday coach Brian Doyle was happy to play out of the bunker for the "boys who were feeling a little flat but upbeat otherwise".
The hapless Bay side's resounding 4-1 victory over over Aorangi in the afternoon wasn't enough to as they finished equal on points with Wellington but behind on a countback of individual games at the Mount Maunganui Golf Club course.
"We did what we had to but it's disappointing only two from each side had to go through. Tasman on the other side have qualified but they they fewer points then we have," Doyle, a New Zealand Elite Academy coach, told SportToday.
He recalled the time in 2004 at the Napier Golf Club-hosted Interprovincials when BOP snuck in as the fourth qualifier but also as the fourth placed side in Hawke's Bay's section.
However, Doyle still preferred the current system.
"I'm terribly proud of the way the boys played - they're a fabulous side."
Not wanting to sound unkind to the previous Bay teams, Doyle said this team was the happiest as people played for each other and gelled well.
"One of my lingering moments is when Nick (Gillespie and Andrew (Henare) winning their games and then running across three fairways with Pieter Zwart - the reserve who was caddying for Nick - to check out how their No.5 teammate, Sam Hucker, was faring. All I remember is the back of the heads of these three young fellows and me trying to keep up with them. That's something I'll remember forever."
Top seed Gillespie who was the only No.1 in the tourney to win all six games and only ventured past the 16th hole on two occasions.
Not wanting to sound like Silver Ferns coach Ruth Aitken, Doyle said her phrase, "the chemistry of the team", was appropriate for the Bay who inspired an exhausted Gillespie.
"Nick stepped off the plane (after the New Zealand Open in Arrowtown on Monday) and stepped straight on to the golf course. That's the nature of the man who did the job at the top," he said of Gillespie, who was ecstatic about his performance but kept his emotions in check as he shared the pain of missing pout on today's play-offs.
The Bay team was hoping Gillespie would win the player of the tournament after the end of play today, something that would buck the trend for a non-qualifying team member.
Doyle said: "You can't blame anyone for missing out. That's the worst I've felt after winning so many games."
Doyle and Gillespie will head off to Cambridge tomorrow for the NZ Elite Academy that will be in camp until Wednesday for a familiarisation exercise with Golf NZ CEO Bill McGowan and high performance manage David Graham.
BOP are on target to challenge for their fourth title in six years today along with Wellington who play North Harbour, who finished top of division two.
Tasman snuck in to their first semifinal in 11 years and will match up against BOP.