Otago maintain longtime grip on Challenge Shield

Phil Bungard. PHOTO: SUPPLIED
Phil Bungard. PHOTO: SUPPLIED
Otago warmed up for the representative summer with a solid win over Southland in the annual fixture in Gore yesterday.

All four Otago teams posted victories but there were some titanic individual tussles.

The men retained their long grip on the Challenge Shield — it has not been in Southland hands for 33 years — with an 8.5-6.5 overall win.

Phil Bungard and Tory Scott set Otago away in the morning foursomes with a 3&2 win over Liam Hewitt and Liam Balneaves, but the Tegan Proudfoot-Brett Dobbie and Matthew Crawford-Ben Munro combinations fired back for Southland.

Callum White and youngster Connor Howes squared the ledger for Otago with a 1-up win, and Mckenzie Gibson and Kai Koni grabbed the advantage with a 4&3 win.

The afternoon singles ebbed and flowed after Hewitt and Phil Bungard could not be separated in their match.

Balneaves and Crawford had 1-up wins for Southland, and Gibson and Noah Novacek replied with the same winning margins for Otago.

Proudfoot and Justin Morris posted wins for Southland but Otago came home strongly with good wins for Koni (4&3), Luke Murdoch (4&3) and Howes (3&2) to seal overall victory.

The Otago women have held the Salisbury Cup for five years and never looked like letting it go, even with star player Sumin Kang at college in the US and Yoonae Jeong on Charles Tour duties.

Otago swept the morning foursomes 4-0 in a sign of things to come.

Amber Boyce clinched a 1-up win over Southland great Robyn Pullar at No 1 in the afternoon singles, and Abby Crawford beat Andrea Russell 2&1.

That opened the floodgates as Judith Yates, Helen Henshell, Nikki Shaw and Kim Fraser had wins for Otago, and Libby Harper grabbed half a point to seal a 10.5-1.5 overall win.

The masters men played at the Invercargill club to prepare for the Freyberg Masters at that course in November.

Otago won the morning singles 4.5-3.5 and the afternoon singles 5-3.

Andrew Hobbs, Andy Wraight and Blair Liffiton had perfect records for the Otago masters, and Glen Sutherland won both his matches for Southland.

Otago swept the junior clash 6-0.