North Otago have progressed to the Otago provincial senior A pennant final after a dominant display in a two-match series against northern rivals Lower Waitaki on Saturday.
The North Otago senior A format has previously been a low-key one-off game, but is now keenly contested with a reinvigorated format in its second year and North Otago defending their district pennant flag they won last year.
The Awamoa club were short odds to claim the North Otago district flag after clean-sweeping Lower Waitaki 6-0 at North Otago Golf Club a fortnight ago. Lower Waitaki needed to return serve by the same margin to force a playoff in the decider at the Lower Waitaki Golf Club.
Playing in bitterly cold conditions, Lower Waitaki were forced to make changes with the biggest omission being Otago age-group representative Lachie Coutts, while North Otago maintained the same lineup from game one.
The fixture was effectively in the bag from the outset after North Otago No3 Richard Knight beat Michael Bartlett 5 and 4. He was soon joined by new Otago masters player Stephen Waby, who has defected from Aorangi, beating Russell Bond.
The home side fought hard, springing a couple of upsets when Paul Odell beat Roger Gilchrist and Jason McLaren downed Kris Rush on the final green.
Wayne Todd added North Otago’s third game when he beat Breen in 18 holes, while the battle of the No1s was halved between Andy Wraight and Gary Creedy for a final score of 3.5-2.5 to North Otago and a series game score of 9.5-2.5.
— Michael Minty
