Golf: Harbour in impressive end to year

Scott Johnson played in North Harbour's first venture on to the national scene in 1994 so he was the perfect player to captain the team that secured their first men's interprovincial title at Titirangi.

The victory on Saturday over Waikato capped a remarkable year for Harbour, the youngest of the 15 provinces. They have captured the national men's, women's and master's team titles and produced Sharon Ahn to win the national women's strokeplay championship.

And the triumphs couldn't have come at a better time. Ann Cambie, the only chief executive Harbour have had, retires next month. Her husband, Mike, former chairman and now team manager, intends to continue for another year.

The 29-year-old Johnson, who was a New Zealand junior representative while at the Waitemata Club, now plays at North Shore. He clearly enjoys his golf as a break from the rigours of a police career.

On the final day Harbour first beat the defending champions, Bay of Plenty, 4-1 and then recorded a similar win against last year's beaten finalists, Waikato. Johnson won both his games but he emphasised it was a team effort.

"It means so much more that everyone contributed," he said, acknowledging that his own form had been shaky early in the week.

Dean Sipson, recently selected at the age of 38 for the national team, beat national representatives Josh Geary (Bay of Plenty) and Mark Purser (Waikato) on the final day and had two wins and a half in section play at the top of the order.

No 2 Steven Han also won twice on Saturday and dropped only one game during the tournament. Ben Jujnovich, a late replacement at three, proved a point to the selectors by winning six games as did his Redwood Park team-mate Joon Sang Chung at five.

Waikato were left to lick their wounds yet again. They have been beaten finalists for the past three years and semifinalists every year since 1999.

They were strong in section play again and marched past Auckland 4-1 in the semifinals. But only No 5 Jim Cusdin prospered in the freezing southerly which swept the course in the final. He was later named player of the tournament, dropping only a half in eight games.

Four titles in a row was a bridge too far for Bay of Plenty, who slipped behind Harbour early in the semifinal and never recovered. But as Johnson graciously conceded, "Bay have set the standard for the rest of us", and they will be back.

The young Auckland team exceeded everybody's expectations by reaching the semifinals with five players who had never played at this level before. No 1 Leighton James kept his cool in a number of tight games and his team-mates all contributed.

Auckland had reached the semifinals only once in the past nine years - six years ago. It says something for their resurgence that they won the national strokeplay team's title in Southland earlier this year with only one of the Titirangi team involved.

The Titirangi course, with its tiered greens and multi-faceted fairways, was clearly a new experience for most. There were many more bogeys than birdies in the week but nobody should blame the quality of the course and its immaculate preparation.

Next year's tournament will be at Timaru.