By BOB PEARCE
After 31 years of trying, Bay of Plenty finally regained one of golf's historic trophies at Waipu yesterday.
The Garrard Shield has been contested for 47 years by 10-man teams from Auckland, Waikato, Bay of Plenty and Northland.
Auckland have either won or shared it 39 times, including the
past 11 years.
When the Bay last won the shield, their team were led by former amateur champion Mike Nicholson and Terry Leech, now a teaching professional. None of this year's team was born at the time of that victory.
The Bay beat Northland and halved with Waikato on Saturday before meeting Auckland, who had two wins, yesterday morning.
The Aucklanders were never in the hunt.
Richard Fry managed a half with Ian Rentoul at No 9, veteran Mike Barltrop beat young Jae An at No 3 and Logan Holzer was in fine form to down Terry Hong 5 and 4.
Elsewhere, the young Bay players putted superbly on the well-prepared Waipu greens.
Four of the Bay team had perfect three-win records. Former strokeplay national champion Sam Hunt, playing at eight because he will not be available for the Tower tournament next month, was back to his best and Josh Geary and Jason McIntosh were not far behind.
Mark Smith had a perfect record at No 2 and was rewarded with the top spot in the Tower team, after being unluckily overlooked in the past couple of years.
In the battle of the No 1s, Holzer (Auckland), Matthew Holten (Waikato) and Alex Tait all had two wins and a loss.
Former national cricketer Tait beat Holten yesterday to clinch a half for Northland.
The teams for the Tower Tournament at Sherwood Park, Whangarei, from November 19 are:-
Bay of Plenty: Mark Smith, George Kinghorn, Jae An, Terry Hong, Jason McIntosh. Reserve, Matthew Jupp.
Auckland: Logan Holzer, Franz Schwanner, Geoff Sisson, Chris Saunoa, Tristan Ellis. Reserve, Albert Kim.
Northland: Alex Tait, Dale Clarke, Reuben Inglis, Stu Beren, Michael Perrin. Reserve, Cam Wood.
Waikato: Brad Shilton, Mathew Holten, Glen Millin, Scott Pickett, David Jackson. Reserve, Mark Purser.
