The Manawatu-Wanganui team finished the Toro Interprovincials strongly on Friday but it was too late to make the weekend semifinals of the matchplay tournament.
They defeated Hawkes Bay in a 5-0 shutout, which lifted them to 16 points after seven rounds, but only enough to finish fourth in the eightteam Division One.
Waikato (22 points) and North Harbour (20.5) went through, joining Wellington and Otago from Division Two in the playoffs.
Wellington won the title, beating Otago 5-0 in the final.
Results Round 7: Manawatu/Wanganui bt Hawkes Bay 5-0. Junior Tatana bt Dallas Williams 2-1, Regan Cording bt Tyson Tawera 3-1, Regan McConaghty bt Carlos Tawera 5-4, Mike Atkins bt Maddison Noakes 2-1, Greg Shaw bt Mako Thompson 5-4.
