Today will be crucial for Otago's chances of making the semifinals as it meets Canterbury this morning and North Harbour this afternoon on the final day of section play in the men's interprovincial tournament in Palmerston North.
Canterbury halved with favourite Bay of Plenty yesterday which keeps Otago in the mix for a top-two finish in its section.
Bay of Plenty and Canterbury share top spot in division one with three wins and a half, with 2005 champion North Harbour and Otago only half a game behind.
"But we will have to post two wins today to have any chance of making the play-offs," team manager and coach Ben Gallie said.
Otago made it three wins from four outings in beating Poverty Bay-East Coast 3.5-1.5 in the only round played yesterday.
Brent McEwan took the honours in the clash of the No 1 players with some solid golf in windy conditions.
He was two up at the turn and held on to win by a single hole over Matthew Mackey on the final green.
Duncan Croudis remains unbeaten at No 2 after a tight tussle with Micah Bremner.
Croudis trailed at the turn but won the last hole with a par.
At No 3, Andrew Hobbs was always in command, leading by five at the turn over Tony Akroyd.
Although Akroyd fought back on the homeward nine, Hobbs finished his match with three holes to spare.
No 4 Mitch Bosley was two down at the turn and still trailed by one with five holes to play.
But he finished strongly, winning four of the last six holes to beat Simon Jenkins by two to post his first win of the week.
No 5 Michael Minty was the only Otago player to lose despite turning square with William Brown.
He lost four of the first six holes on the back nine and will need to improve today in Otago's final matches.
Wellington maintained its unbeaten record in division two by ending the play-off hopes of host Manawatu-Wanganui 3-1.
Last year's beaten finalist, Wellington, is joined at the top of the division by Hawkes Bay, which scraped out a 3-2 win over Taranaki.
Wellington and Hawkes Bay meet in today's penultimate round, with the winner assured of a spot in the semifinals, while the loser could still be vulnerable to Auckland and Waikato, 1 games behind.
Auckland had a commanding 4-1 win over Waikato yesterday and is in the best position to upset the loser of the Wellington-Hawkes Bay match today, with matches against Taranaki and Manawatu-Wanganui to complete its campaign.
Waikato will need to get past a pesky Tasman in the morning and then clash with Wellington in the final round.
