Golf: Northland stay in hunt as semifinals beckon

Northland's Kadin Neho is part of the slick Northland outfit, who now sit second behind Otago in the Second Division. Photo / John Stone

Northland continue to stay in the race at the 2015 Toro Interprovincials after beating Taranaki 4 to 1 on Day Three of play.

The unbeaten team of Sheldon Kearns, Taylor Gill, Alex Neely, Kadin Neho and Luke Brown are a young bunch of boys going slightly under the radar in search for the biggest win of their careers.

Northland number one Luke Brown has had recent success on the Jennian Homes Charles Tour finishing top amateur in the Taranaki Open (third overall) and he is happy with how things are progressing in this tournament.

"We were a little upset with the halved match yesterday [Tuesday], but the boys showed character coming from behind. With Otago [this] morning it will decide who sits at the top of the division, so that's all we are thinking about at the moment."

The leaders are slowly separating from the pack as the tournament nears the final stages. Today will be a huge day as teams fight it out for a spot in Saturday's semifinals.

Otago dominated once again, yesterday, with an emphatic win over Hawkes Bay to lead their division and remain one of the hot favourites for the title.

They had won their fixture within 14 holes with Chris Snow, Fraser MacLachlan, Nick Borren and Brent McEwan all winning with ease.

McEwan plays his 100th match for Otago tomorrow, an amazing feat since picking up the clubs for his province 16 years ago.

"Yeah it's an exciting and sad time, try not to think about it too much. What's more important is the team success at the end of the week," said McEwan.

"After winning two weeks ago at the SBS, the team has the belief and hopefully that can carry us through the weekend."

Otago made the final in 2014 but didn't get the desired result.

Waikato have had no shortage of headlines this week as they continue their winning ways, handing in an equally dominant win of 4.5 to 1.5 against in form North Harbour.

Not only do Waikato hold rugby's Ranfurly Shield, they also have the Toro Interprovincial trophy in their cabinet and they are not ready to give it away.

Igniting the win was Waikato's first player out, Chris Charlton who lit up the course making the first hole-in-one for the week.

"Pulled my eight iron and aimed for the centre of the green. With the wind coming from the left it drifted closer to the pin. At the time I didn't know it had gone in, but it was a good feeling when I checked the hole to find my ball," smiled Charlton.

Play kicks-off at 7.30am today with Northland playing Otago in the morning round.