Erin Hawe shaved her hair off two weeks ago for breast cancer. With a colourful beanie covering her bare head yesterday, she rallied to a different cause, steering Waikato into the semifinals of the women's interprovincial golf tournament.
The 17-year-old from the Walton Club sank a testing three-metre putt on
the 17th green to clinch a 2 and 1 victory over Northland's Phoebe Perrin to earn defending champions Waikato a 3-2 win and a semifinal against Auckland this morning.
The other semifinal pits unbeaten North Harbour against Bay of Plenty, who beat Wellington 4-1 in a winner-take-all match.
Rain caused a 90-minute suspension of play and the bitterly cold wind made conditions testing all morning.
The Waikato-Northland clash was always close. Caroline Bon and Samantha Dangen won well for the northerners while Hanna Seifert and Chantelle Cassidy responded for Waikato.
Perrin had her nose in front at halfway in the deciding game, but Hawe was one up with two to play. Perrin overcooked a birdie putt and three-putted, while Hawe rattled home her par-saver to win the game.
"I knew it counted and I was a bit nervous," said Hawe. "The girls had played great and I did it for the team. It will set us up well for the semifinals."
Hawe, a student at Matamata College, was one of a group of 50 locals who combined to raise $10,000 for breast cancer research. She has won all her games this week and was a winner in Waikato's victory at Nelson last year.
The young Wellington team were well beaten by Bay of Plenty, for whom Zoe-Beth Brake, the national strokeplay champion, celebrated her 18th birthday on Thursday with a 5 and 3 victory over Lucy Davis. A bright spot for Wellington was a sixth win for Manor Park teenager Julianne Alvarez.
Auckland and North Harbour continued their winning ways with comfortable victories over Southland and Taranaki. Harbour completed their third clean sweep, while Liv Cheng was Auckland's only loser.
North Harbour play Bay of Plenty from 8am today. Auckland and Waikato start from 8.35am. The final will be played from 1pm.
