It was a rags-to-riches story for Otago women's golf when the top quintet finished with six points and 14 games and then won a play-off with Canterbury to finish seventh in the women's interprovincial on the Grange course in Auckland at the weekend.
Otago finished in the top half this year after languishing in bottom place with a paucity of points and games over the past four years.
The youngest team for many years did Otago proud and, after a slow start, looked poised to win all of its games.
The team won four of the six section games and the play-off round - a feat unheard of in recent years.
The move to pitch for youth was designed to help turn Otago's fortunes around and it succeeded admirably.
The result came about because of a team effort, with Shani Arona (No 2), Riho Kanazawa (No 4) and Laura Hoskin (No 5) all finishing with four wins from seven games.
At No 3, Kathryn Fletcher - the team's veteran - posted two wins and two halves, while Monica Tulisi finished with one win and two halves in the difficult top spot.
Arona, Kanazawa and Hoskin are all attending school and their 12-game tally augurs well for the future of Otago women's golf.
Kanazawa (Cromwell College) and Hoskin (St Hildas) got off to a nervous start with two losses each on the first day.
But the pair turned this around, winning eight out of ten games in the final four rounds and play-off round.
This must also be a testimony to the management of the team by Dianne Gillett and Liz McRae, who obviously engendered the right spirit in the young team.
Finishing seventh will provide Otago with an easier start to next year's event and, one year further on along with this year's experience behind them, could see Otago lift this placing even higher in 2010.
