The Otago B52s announced themselves as a serious contender after inflicting defeat on the previously unbeaten St Clair Saints at St Clair on Saturday.
The 4.5-1-5 victory has put the competition on notice but will also keep the complacency at bay in the coming weeks for the Corstorphine golfers.
Just up the beach, the Bombers scored a tight win over Chisholm Links at home while Taieri finished strong to earn their first win over Island Park on the Taieri.
With the B52s missing Andrew Hobbs, the Saints missed an opportunity to go 5 from 5.
The B52s secured early wins through Tom Gillan and Mat Weir in the tail before Will McLachlan won the key match against Jacob Bellamy (Saints) at No 1.
Simultaneously, George Prendergast (B52s) had come back from a deficit to make birdie at the 17th and hold a 1 up advantage heading up the last hole meaning the team were home despite losing the hole to halve against Parker Aluesi (Saints).
Halves to Conor Howes and Logan Clarke against Lewis Harper and Lachie Coutts respectively for St Clair kept the margin close.
At Chisholm Links the home side looked every chance against an Otago Bombers side down on troops but last year’s champs dug deep to come out on top.
Duncan Croudis continued his winning ways 8/7 over Mike Bowman to give the Bombers their first win.
Kyle Geary (Links) returned serve to defeat Tony Brown to square the ledger.
Ryan Rosevear beat Jason Pegler to edge the visitors ahead before halves at the tail matches gave the Bombers three games.
Luke Murdoch secured the visitors 3-5-2-5 victory when he turned 1 up on the 18th against Kai Koni before Koni pulled the match back to a half after winning the final hole.
At Taieri Lakes, the home side finally recorded their first win of the series over Island Park 4-2.
The visitors looked a big chance at forcing another playoff despite losing the ascendancy early with Lakes claiming three key matches through Mark Andrews and Blair Bennett at 5 and 6 while Josh Boath defeated Mike Wray 3/2 to secure three games.
Wins at the top for Phil Bungard and Joey Hancock gave the visitors a sniff. Jarden Hammond (Island Park) was ahead for most of the match against Jarred Mitchell.
However, Mitchell managed to claw his way back into that match with the pair level on the 18th tee.
He found the fairway while Hammond went right and found trouble approaching the green before Mitchell hit his third shot to 1m and his birdie conceded for a 1 up win and Lakes’ first win.
The results mean an unchanged ladder for the week — the B52s are still in 2nd behind the Saints but are level on points followed by the Bombers, Island Park, Chisholm Links and Taieri Lakes.
— Michael Minty
