Youngster denies Dormer title

Whangarei's Kadin Neho caused a major upset by beating the heavily favoured Brett Dormer in the final of the Explore New Zealand James Busby Plate at the Waitangi Golf Club.
Dormer, who recently won the Northland 72 Hole Stroke Play title at the Northland Golf Club, wanted to add the Busby Plate - which doubles as the Northland Match Play title - to his collection on the final day of play on Sunday.
And for most of the final it seemed likely he would achieve his goal. The Kaitaia golfer was three up after only five holes.
Neho clawed back two shots with a par on the seventh hole and a birdie on eight, which saw him just one down before a bogey at the ninth gave Dormer a two-hole lead at the turn.
A bogey-bogey start on the 10th and 11th allowed Neho to square the match before the Kaitaia golfer birdied the 13 and a Neho bogey on 16 had the 14-year-old golfer on the ropes.
But he saved the match with a magnificent birdie on 17 to be one down and a par on 18 was good enough to square the match and force a playoff.
Neho birdied the first playoff hole to cap a remarkable comeback and earn his biggest win to date.
The promising young golfer is in red-hot form after winning six out of his seven matches in the U16 division at the junior interprovincials at Cambridge last week and will be one to watch at this weekend's City of Whangarei Classic.
"When I was two-down with two to play in the final I didn't think I had much of a chance but then I played pretty well to win three in a row," Neho said.
In his present form Neho is likely to be selected into the ten-strong Northland senior team to begin preparation for the interprovincials - rather than playing in the U16s as he did last year.
It remains to be seen whether he will break into the travelling team, but if he can topple Dormer, who played at No2 at last year's interprovincials, he may be closer than some believe.
There was plenty of quality in the first division for the Busby Plate with top seed Ian Haringa from Auckland downed by Northland's Michael MacDonald, setting the stage for some great match play battles.
Neho beat Martin Duff in the quarterfinal, before dispatching Northland junior teammate Lee Neumann in the semifinal, while Dormer took care of McDonald in the quarterfinal before dispatching fellow Kaitaia player Bob Shirley in the semifinal.
In division two, Rawene's Kevin Kruse defeated Pines junior Luke Brown for the Tamati Waka Nene Trophy while Gordon Ramsay won the division three title.
The tournament featured golfers from as far south as Rotorua and after last year's washout, the organisers were pleased with the course set-up and the brilliant weather for golf.

RESULTS:
Explore NZ James Busby Plate 72 Hole Match Play Championship and Golf Northland Match Play Championship.

James Busby Plate (Div. 1): 1 Kadin Neho (Whangarei), 2 Brett Dormer (Kaitaia), 3 Bob Shirley (Carrington), 4 Lee Neumann (Northland).
Tamati Waka Nene Trophy (Div. 2): 1 Kevin Kruse (Rawene), 2 Luke Brown (The Pines), 3 Ben Hessell (Waipu), 4 Bryan Inglis (North Shore).
Sir George Grey Trophy (Div. 3): 1 Gordon Ramsay (Kaikohe), 2 Robin Norman (Waitangi), 3 Len Cooper (Waitangi), 4 Nelson Reuben (Kaikohe).
Tokerau Trophy (Div. 4): 1 Colin Hannah (Tapora), 2 Mark Javins (Waitangi), 3 Maurice Penney (Kerikeri), 4 Cameron Birch (Kaikohe).