GOLF: Dream team's despair

ANENDRA SINGH
New No.1 Nick Gillespie is humming, the Golf Hawke's Bay's trophy cabinet is chocker but somehow one gets the feeling that something's missing.
Ask yesterday's victorious 14-member Bay team captain Allen Forrest what that is and he'll tell you what's missing - "a major sponsorship".
"Mmm ... well, we wouldn't mind being Kelt Capital Hawke's Bay senior men golf team," Forrest told SportToday last night soon after returning from Te Puke Golf Club, near Tauranga, following their win in the BayHarbour Interprovincial Quadrangular Tournament.
It is the first time the Bay team, including four under-19 players, have won the title since the quadrangular was first played for in 1995. Heavyweights Bay of Plenty and North Harbour have had a stranglehold on the framed photograph of the Old St Andrew's Golf Course, in Scotland, that Bay, BOP, North Harbour and Poverty Bay-East Coast play for annually.
The Hawke's Bay players spoilt the more fancied BOP and Harbour sides with an unstoppable Gillespie spearheading the wins at No.1 with three wins from three. Other players to notch 100 per cent results in the strokeplay event were No.3 Darryn Turley, No.9 Pieter Zwart and under-19 player Brook Morpeth.
"It's nice to have someone at No.1 who can beat anyone. Nick's on fire," said Forrest, who is also a Golf HB manager/selector.
However, he was quick to commend the performance of the four under-19 players of Morpeth, Merlin Schloemer, Reihana Menaena and Josh Downey, who came in for his cousin, Thomas, who missed this year's age-group cut by two days. "Our under-19s pulled us through. They were behind BOP and North Harbour but they came back strongly."
Bay beat BOP 7 1/2-6 1/2 in the opening match on Saturday morning and then trounced North Harbour 9-5 in the afternoon, blissfully unaware that their rivals had earlier in the morning crushed Poverty Bay-East Coast 14-0.
"It was a quick lunch and turnaround so we were more focused on what we were doing," Forrest explained. In their last match, the Bay crushed Poverty Bay-East Coast 14-2 yesterday.
"When I saw the photograph (prize) it brought back fond memories of when I was at St Andrew's for the British Open two years ago," Forrest said.
"We know have three quadrangular trophies in the trophy cabinet and we were just talking about building a larger cabinet to house all the silverware."
The Woollaway Trophy was won late last year in a clash involving BOP, Poverty Bay and Waikato, and the Shand Cup was also won late last year after the Bay men reigned over Manawatu/Wanganui, Wellington and Taranaki.
"That covers our supremacy over all provinces except Northland and Auckland," a delighted Forrest said.
So, arguably, that should put the Bay in good stead for the elusive Lion Foundation Interprovincial crown towards the end of the year?
While not wanting to look that far Forrest said the immediate focus was playing against Wellington in their annual encounter, which in a fortnight will be competed at Dannevirke Golf Club in three rounds of foursomes, reverse singles and singles.
He also stressed that the Bay side only achieved their goal at the weekend with team practices for one hour every Tuesday night for several weeks.
"We're desperate for sponsorship and need money to stay at the top level."
While blessed with pub charity funding and smaller sponsors over the years, Forrest said it was vital for them to secure a major sponsor if they were to stay on top of their game and seriously challenge for the Interprovincials in the supreme battle for provincial supremacy.
"(Coach) Brian (Doyle) went to the quadrangular at his own cost and stayed with a friend because we can't afford to employ his services all year round."
He said although the Bay players lived closest to the course, they had the worst accommodation of the four teams at the weekend. While BOP and North Harbour had breakfast at the clubhouse the Bay men had breakfast on their own. " We've done away with flash dinners and jackets."