Auckland was the runaway winner of the women’s national interprovincial championship yesterday afternoon, beating Canterbury 4-1 in the final on the Sherwood Park course in Whangarei.
Auckland was also dominant in the morning semifinal, beating Bay of Plenty 4-1.
At the end of the other semifinal, Canterbury and North Harbour were tied but Canterbury won a final berth when No3 Catherine Bell won the first playoff hole to give her team a 3-2 win.
Wellington was too strong for Otago in the playoff for seventh and eighth, winning four of the five games.
But women’s golf looks to be on the rise in Otago with the youngest interprovincial team in history putting up one of Otago’s best performances in recent years.
Wellington No1 Darae Chung fired a barrage of birdies at Otago’s Danielle Bailey whose pars were not good enough. Chung was 3-under when the match finished on the 13th green.
Otago No2 Annabel Evans did not show her best form and was no measure for Erika Lee who won the contest on the 12th green.
No3 Susan Greig was competitive on the front nine and trailed Shontalia William by one after the first 12 holes.
But Greig struck hazard trouble on 13 and 14, going two behind after losing 13 but salvaging a half at the 14th.
The pair halved the 15th in birdies but the match was all over when William won the next hole.
Abigael Crawford’s match against Anita Harkerss see-sawed on the front nine, with three wins each and three halved holes, to be square at the turn.
Crawford lost the first two holes on the back nine but won 15 and 17 to be square playing the final hole.
But her drive finished behind a tree and it was Otago’s fourth loss when she failed to get up and down for a half.
Sumin Kang (12) had a tight match against Alanah Braybrook but came from behind winning 13, 15 and 17 for a 3 and 1 margin.
