Golf: BOP do it again

It took Bay of Plenty 52 years to win their first national men's interprovincial teams golf title, but only 12 months to add their second.

Bay of Plenty retained their national crown at Coringa in Christchurch today to reinforced their reputation as the country's strongest golf province by beating Waikato 3-2 in a gripping final which went down to the last putt.

Terry Hong came down the 18th fairway 1 up on Mark Boe and with the team score locked at 2-2.

In the back of Hong's mind was the fact that he had been 3 up playing the back nine against Boe in section play yesterday before losing five holes to go down 2 and 1.

But there was no wavering from Hong, 18, as he played a fine approach into the last green, with the ball coming to a rest 18 feet below the hole.

Boe replied with another accurate approach to 15 feet and he had a chance to take the final to a sudden death playoff when Hong's birdie putt died to the right side.

Boe struck his putt firmly but he knew almost from the start that it was off line and it raced by the hole.

Apart from Hong, Bay of Plenty's winners were No 2 Jae An, who was 5 under around the testing Coringa course in beating New Zealand representative Mathew Holten at the 13th, and No 5 Jason McIntosh, who pulled away from James Gill when winning the seventh, eighth, ninth and 10th holes, two with pars, two with birdies.

Waikato have made the last four for the last five years but their 1987 success remains their last.

More honour was bestowed on the Bay when An was named player of the tournament.

He won seven of his eight matches, losing only to Andrew Henare, of Manawatu-Wanganui, at the last in today's semifinals.

Bay of Plenty were ahead 3-2 through the turn with McIntosh 3 up, Hong 1 up and An 4 up.

They went on to clinch victory for their team, while Purser and New Zealand Eisenhower representative Brad Shilton were Waikato's winners, Purser finishing three under the card when beating George Kinghorn, 2 and 1, and Shilton pouncing when Smith twice had bogeys on the back nine. Shilton won 3 and 2 and was also three-under.

In the morning semifinals, Bay of Plenty had McIntosh to thank for their 3-2 win over Manawatu-Wanganui, who had been 14th of the 15 teams last year.

McIntosh was 2 down after 14 holds against New Zealand matchplay runner-up Hamish Robertson, but won the 15th, 17th and 18th to get ahead for the first time when it mattered most.

After leading Waikato 4-1 at the turn, Canterbury underwent a dreadful patch early on the back nine and their lead was soon eroded as Waikato won 3-1/2 to 1-1/2.

They went from 4-1 up to 1-4 down and usually steady Canterbury captain and No 5 David Rattray saw a 4 up lead turn into a 2 and 1 loss.

Canterbury's win came from Nic Fry, who was four-under when finishing off Mark Boe at the 15th.

Brad Stuart scored a consolation half for the hosts, winning the last two holes, with a par and a birdie, to finish square with Mathew Holten.

A New Zealand squad of eight were named after the tournament to start preparing for next year's Eisenhower Trophy world championship in Puerto Rico and the 2006 event in South Africa.

New Zealand squad: Jae An, Mark Smith (Bay of Plenty); Kevin Chun (Auckland); Doug Holloway (Hawke's Bay); Mathew Holten, Mark Purser (Waikato); Riki Kauika (Manawatu-Wanganui); Bradley Iles (Wellington).

- NZPA