KEY POINTS:
Rookie Kevin Budden proved the hero for North Harbour at the national
men's interprovincial amateur teams golf championship in Nelson
yesterday.
Budden, 22, was two down at the turn before blasting five birdies on the
back nine to grab a 2 and 1 win over Hawkes Bay's
Daniel Pearce and give
North Harbour a crucial 3-2 victory at Greenacres Golf Club.
The win pushed them into a share of the lead with defending champions Bay of Plenty, with both remaining unbeaten in section one.
North Harbour can cement a semifinal berth by beating Northland this
morning while Bay of Plenty face their first real tests of the week against Hawkes Bay and North Harbour.
Wellington and Waikato pushed through to the top of the leaderboard in section two while hosts Tasman also remained in the running for the semifinals after eliminating Auckland yesterday.
Tasman's chances may depend on their final round match against Wellington this afternoon after a must-win match with Canterbury
in the morning. Waikato and Wellington will clash this morning with the winners progressing to the semifinals. The losers may need to win in the afternoon against Canterbury and Tasman respectively.
North Harbour faced a key showdown with Hawkes Bay yesterday.
Hawkes Bay took the early advantage before North Harbour fought back
to level the scores tied at 2-2, with the outcome swinging on the result of Budden's contest against Pearce.
Two down at the turn, Budden fired five birdies in seven holes to secure the win for his team.
"It was an important win. Hawkes Bay are a really tough team," North
Harbour No 1 Scott Johnson said.
"We just wanted to get to three wins. It's tough here this week and three points is golden.
"Kevin was the turning point for us. That fantastic effort has flicked it in our direction. He is one of four players who have not played at the interprovincials before."
Bay of Plenty were untroubled in beating Taranaki 4-1, with the highlight being a brilliant finish by Troy Ropiha, who came from three down with an eagle and three birdies in the closing four holes to
square his match against Brad Hayward.
Southland remained in the semifinal race with a 4 to win over Poverty Bay-East Coast. They now will need to beat both Taranaki and Hawkes Bay today to have any chance.
Wellington impressed with a 4-1 win over Manawatu-Wanganui to get
their campaign back on track after their first day loss.
Waikato were forced to work hard before beating Otago 3-2 with two excellent wins at the top of the order from Richard Wright and Jim Cusdin, who shot four birdies in his 4 and 3 victory over Sean Roach.
Tasman scored their best win of the tournament to put an end to uckland's chances in emphatic fashion 4-1.
Jason Mann earned the only win for Auckland while the Riordan brothers,
Blair and Sean, won at the top of the order, both by 4 and 3 margins.
Sean Riordan produced some scintillating play, producing six birdies
without blemish against Ryan Fox, who finished in red figures but out of luck against the Tasman player.
There are two rounds today with the semifinals and final tomorrow.
- NZPA
