Golf: Birdies put champions into flight

By GRAHAM SKELLERN

Highly-talented Glenn Millin led a birdie barrage as the hosts Waikato upset the defending champions Canterbury 3-1/2 to 1-1/2 in the fifth and only round played in the Tower inter-provincial men's amateur golf championships at Hamilton yesterday.

The 18-year-old Millin, a national squad member, ravaged the St Andrews course with seven birdies in defeating the previously unbeaten David Rattray 2 and 1. Rattray also chimed in with four birdies.

Millin, off first in the No 5 spot, set the tone as the confident Waikato side fired a total of 17 birdies to overpower the favoured Canterbury side who today have testing matches against Auckland and North Harbour in the scramble for the semifinal spots.

The Waikato No 4 Evan Woolf slotted four birdies over the first nine holes to lead Eddie "Leopard" Lee but Lee fought back well to halve the match. The No 3 Anthony Barkley was always ahead of the out-of-form Karl Kitchingham, winning 3 and 2, and Brad Shilton, finishing two under with three birdies, won the clash of the No 1s against Carl Brooking 4 and 3.

Canterbury's sole win came at No 2 when the international Isaac Randall maintained his unbeaten record with a 5 and 4 victory over Andrew McKechnie.

Waikato, on three wins and 13 games, are now favoured to reach Saturday's semifinals after meeting Taranaki and Northland today - and can think about winning their first inter-provincial title since the heady days of their hat-trick between 1985-87.

Millin, who plans to turn professional when he feels he's ready, has given Waikato just the spur they needed. In four rounds so far on the tight St Andrews course he is an incredible 16 under par and also unbeaten - along with Kent Skellern (Bay of Plenty) and Gerard Fisher (Wellington).

"The Tower tournament brings the best out of you," said Millin. "I find I can focus a lot better in matchplay."

The powerful and well-organised Wellington side, who meet Hawkes Bay and Otago today, are the only province with four wins and look certain of claiming the first spot in the semifinals.

Bay of Plenty, who beat Tasman 3-1/2 to 1-1/2 yesterday for their third win, play the same lowly-rated teams and are well-placed to reach the last four for the second year running.

But below them seven teams are still in with a chance over the action-packed final two qualifying rounds today. Auckland, sitting slightly uncomfortably in second place with three and a half wins and 14-1/2 games, will need all their experience and talent to shine through against Canterbury in the crunch game this morning, after dropping half a point in drawing with North Harbour 2-1/2 to 2-1/2.

Auckland easily got their first two games in - Geoff Sisson and Blair Dibley both beating Kelvin Longstaff and Sam Sullivan 4 and 3 - but North Harbour's top order refused to budge.

Harbour's No 2 Philip Luong grabbed two birdies and an eagle between the sixth and eighth holes to take the initiative over national squad member Brad Heaven, eventually winning 3 and 2.

The confident 15-year-old Matthew Bray, playing No 1 for the first time, hung in against the established international Chris Johns who was three up after 11 holes. Bray birdied the 13th and 14th holes and then won the important 17th hole, after Johns drove left under the trees, to go 1 up.

It was left to Logan Scott (Auckland) and Adam Hansen to battle out a half - enough to give North Harbour, with two and a half wins and 13 games, a sniff of a semifinal berth as well.