Shani Arona, No 2 in the Otago women's golf team which finished seventh in the national interprovincial last week, scored 75 and 72 to win the provincial champion of champions title at Arrowtown yesterday.
Arona, a year 13 pupil at Wakatipu High School, qualified for the event by winning the senior championship at both the Arrowtown and Queenstown clubs and relished the chance to play on home soil.
In the morning round, Arona shot 75 with some steady par golf, carding a single birdie two on the par-three sixth hole.
But in the afternoon, Arona posted a plethora of birdies to take the title in style by seven shots from Riho Kanazawa (Cromwell).
Kanazawa was also a member of Otago's successful team, winning four of her seven games for Otago at No 4.
Along with Liz McRae (Wanaka), Kanazawa was one shot off the pace at lunch, making birdies at the 11th and 13th holes in the afternoon to finish second.
McRae came in fourth, one shot further back, while Susan Greig (Otago) finished fourth on 164.
The Arrowtown team made the most of local knowledge to win the gross stableford rosebowl with 131 points, 27 points ahead of the Queenstown club, which finished in second place.
Arona led the way, but Sandy Ellis scored 40 points, while Jan Spary added 24 points to ensure the Arrowtown club took the title.
