A senior amateur Hawke's Bay golfer will keep his hand down for representative duties because he's "too old" in the selectors' eyes.
Stuart Duff, 47, says there's little point in playing until the current selection panel of Allen Smith and John Swinburne "move on or have a different view".
"I can't see any other way of getting younger - you know, I can improve my golf but I can't get any younger so there's actually no point in putting myself up for the team," the Hastings Golf Club member tells SportToday.
Duff, a teacher at Lindisfarne College, says Bay selectors had the courtesy to inform him they were picking a younger Stortford Lodge Auto Sales-sponsored team before they announced the successful players' names at the Napier Golf Club late last month following the last round of the Greenwood Cup competition.
Smith, he says, told him earlier in the year that he should vie for a berth in the Bay Masters interprovincials team playing in Invercargill this week.
However, the Masters interprovincials schedule clashes with Duff's timetable considering pupils are sitting external examinations.
"If they change the time, yes, I'd be available."
The former Central Districts and New Zealand cricketer emphasises he's "not bitching".
"Yes, I'm disappointed because I think I should be in the side but that's only my opinion.
"Life goes on. I've felt all year there's been a bit of an agenda and I'm not really surprised," the two handicapper says, adding the selectors' choices outside the obvious didn't leave him "gobsmacked".
While it did help to have an order of merit with a number of ranking tournaments in a year, as Manawatu do, Duff feels it's entirely up to the selectors who they pick.
He feels Ben Swinburne must find it difficult because his father's a selector.
"Ben's a good kid but he's just in an awkward situation where I wouldn't like to be in his position, really.
"No matter how well he plays - unless he plays really well - everyone's going to say, 'Your dad's picked you'.
"If you've got a son, who's marginal to be in a team, then it makes it awkward for you in a position as a selector when your boy's in the fringes."
Duff has been in and out of the Bay interprovincial team from 1997 but played full time from 2003.
He was a reserve in 2004 but represented the Bay every other year.
The selection didn't eventuate from just two to three holes but it was a year-long process.
"I'm not sure of the criteria or how they picked the team. It's been a bit of a mystery all year, really," he says, adding the selectors' view is what's different this year.
"It's not like the criteria should change because I didn't get in. I think it would be easier if they had a set order of merit ... because you have numbers whether it be cricket, football or rugby. That way it doesn't just come down to the selectors' opinion.
"I wish the team the best because they are a good side with three players who represent New Zealand and one who has represented New Zealand and is a former professional."
'Too old' Duff's career out of bounds
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