Two of New Zealand’s provincial golfing powerhouses have prevailed again at the 2024 NZ Interprovincials this week.
Auckland's men won their second consecutive title in their third straight final against Bay of Plenty (BOP) on Saturday, establishing themselves as New Zealand’s top golfing province once again.
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Meanwhile, an inspired young North Harbour outfit upset the most successful women’s province in the competition’s history, defeating Auckland to lift the women’s trophy at the Russley Golf Club in Christchurch.
BOP got off to a flying start against the defending champions, with Francis Lockwood and Kevin Bang in the No 4 and No 3 matches getting 5&4 and 4&3 victories, respectively.
However, Auckland No 5 Steven Van Heerden was too strong in his match winning 3&1 with New Zealand Stroke Play champion Robby Turnbull squaring the ledger with an impressive 5&4 win of his own, leaving it down to the No 1s to decide the title.
After losing to Kale at Omanu Golf Club in the 2022 final, Auckland’s Joshua Bai got his revenge, beating Kale 3&1 to seal another victory for the City of Sails and Player of the Tournament honours for winning six matches and halving two.
Earlier in the day, Auckland beat their rivals Wellington 3 1/2-1 1/2 in their semifinal, while hosts Canterbury lost to BOP 4-1, with New Zealand amateur champion Cooper Moore the only player to notch up a victory.
North Harbour's women went one better than last year’s effort, lifting the trophy after a tense final day which went down to the wire.
The final was close all afternoon. Auckland’s No 5 Cherry Lee beat Olivia Yoon 1up, while the two No 4s Gabriela He (Auckland) and Sarah Li (North Harbour) halved, leaving it to the top order to decide who would take home the spoils.
North Harbour’s top-three proved too strong, with Sophie Yu winning 6&4, Teresa Wang winning 4&3, and Juwon Kim getting over the line 1up.
Kim also walked away with the Player of the Tournament trophy, with seven wins and a loss at No 1.
Harbour beat Wellington in the first semifinal in the morning but needed extra holes to book their places in the afternoon's final, while Auckland beat Canterbury 3-2.
With scores level at 2 1/2, the two No 5s, who halved, went out for a sudden -death playoff to decide who would progress, with North Harbour’s Olivia Yoon prevailing on the 20th hole.