Golf: Teeing up to end losing streak

Auckland will be looking for a strong performance from Ryan Fox at the Manawatu Golf Club this week. Photo / Brett Phibbs

Auckland's women golfers broke a 10-year drought by winning the interprovincial title in October. Today in Palmerston North their male counterparts begin their quest to end an even longer losing streak.

It was 1995 at Manor Park that Auckland last lifted the trophy and even then their captain, Simon Bittle, had to win a playoff against Bay of Plenty's Jason Laing to clinch the title.

That team is worth recalling: Bittle was the reigning amateur champion, David Somervaille won it the year after, Marcus Wheelhouse had won the national strokeplay title twice in a row and Glen Goldfinch and Michael Barltrop earned national honours.

This week at the Manawatu Golf Club, Auckland will have national representatives Ryan Fox and Ben Wallace joined by former Northlander Gary-John Hill, leading amateur on the Charles Tour and winner of the Stewart Gold Cup. But reputations can count for little in this five-man matchplay team event. Bay of Plenty went 50 years without a win, but after breaking through at Sherwood Park in 2002, they have won five titles in the past seven years.

Only Ben Taylor returns from the team that beat Wellington 4-1 in the final at Nelson last year. But number one Andrew Stewart has been one of the form players in the north and, even without him, the Bay beat Waikato, Auckland and Northland in the Garrard Shield last month.

Waikato pushed Bay to the edge in a 3-2 semifinal loss at Nelson and with Les Miller, Matt Perry and Tane Robson at the top of their order they will be a hard team to beat.

Wellington won the first contest at Christchurch in 1951 and have since had 10 more wins. Auckland have the same total and there was one shared in 1960. The Wellingtonians must have been hopeful of going one up on the northerners when they led last year's final in the mid-stages.

With the Spearman-Burn twins and Sean Kells at the top of the order they are in the same section as Auckland and their clash tomorrow could be decisive in the bid for semifinal places.

North Harbour shattered Bay of Plenty's hopes of winning four in a row at Titirangi four years ago and Scott Johnson, who beat Danny Lee in the semis in 2005, leads a strong lineup.

Kevin Budden won the Bream Bay Classic and Simon Brownlee the Omanu Classic from good fields and teen lefthander Tom Cardno came from nowhere to win the national under-23 title at Hastings in January.

Canterbury in 2000 were the last South Island side to win the title. Tasman and Southland have been semifinalists in the last two years. An early gauge of their chances will come today when Auckland play Tasman and North Harbour play Canterbury.

There will be seven rounds of section play before the semifinals and final on Saturday.