Next on the tee

LOOK back and go forth.
That could be the catchcry for Poverty Bay-East Coast when they launch their mission to turn zero into hometown hero at the Toro national men’s interprovincial in Gisborne tomorrow morning.
The zero is how many team points they picked up last year. The looking back is the 30-year anniversary of PBEC’s finest hour at the interprovincials — formerly known as the Freyberg Rosebowl.
In November of 1981, Peter Rouse led PBEC to an historic sixth out of 14 provinces on the fairways of Poverty Bay. They had four team victories, including the prized scalp of Canterbury.
No PBEC team have come close to that week which started with team manager Richard Limm telling The Gisborne Herald, “Poverty Bay-East Coast have chewed the wooden spoon for so long it is almost ground into sawdust”, and ended with the headline “Local team wipe out that underdog image”.
The 2011 national interprovincials are being held at Poverty Bay for the fourth time and the first since 1996.
Fifteen provinces divided into two sections go head to head in matchplay over five days, culminating in semifinals and the final on Saturday.
The field contains the country’s top amateurs, including New Zealand and North Island strokeplay champion Ryan Fox (Auckland) and his New Zealand international team-mate Ben Campbell, who will spearhead Wellington’s defence of the title they won at Paraparaumu Beach.
For PBEC, 2010 was a year best forgotten. The team lost every tie and registered just 1½ individual wins in what is understood to be the minnow province’s worst result.
Auckland-based Jenkins is back for his 11th national interprovincial since debuting in 2000 and will play his 61st “Freyberg” match at No. 1 in PBEC’s tournament opener against Hawke’s Bay.
The rest of the PBEC six-man squad are William Brown, Steve Donnelly, Andrew Higham, Dion “Coastie” Milner and Sheridan Rangihuna, who starts the tournament at reserve but will get game time over the week.
The initial intention is for Milner to interchange with Rangihuna although that could change depending on form.
Home provinces, even the smallest, usually grow an extra leg at this tournament. Local knowledge is certain to help. All six PBEC team members have extensive experience of the Bay — Higham (2011), Jenkins (2009) and Auckland-based Donnelly (2003) have won the senior club champion title at Poverty Bay. Donnelly won the Poverty Bay Open in 2004 and 2009.
Higham has been a revelation at club and representative level this year. The East Coast open champion has not been beaten in the past two interprovincial quadrangulars.
Rangihuna is the bolter in the side. He returned from Wellington to his hometown this year to play for Gisborne Boys’ High School first 15 rugby team and achieved his aim of making the New Zealand Schools squad. Rugby season over, his focus shifted to golf and a perfect record of three wins for the PBEC junior team at a quadrangular in Taupo last month could not be ignored by selectors.
Jenkins said there was plenty of positivity in the side. Everyone was hitting the ball well, the crucial area would, as usual, be the short game. Poverty Bay’s famous greens will be slick and the course will have a bit of fire in it. Players who stray into the gnarly, wispy rough will be punished severely.
For the spectator, there will be no shortage of talent to enjoy. Fox, the son of All Black great Grant Fox, has been wowing galleries all year, including a staggering 17-under winning total at the North Island strokeplay champs at Whitford Park.
All members of the elite Srixon golf academy are competing and Gisborne golfers will take extra interest in the performance of the Bay of Plenty team.
An eight-strong BoP contingent entered the Poverty Bay Open to familiarise themselves with the course, and all qualified for the top 16, with Rotorua’s Landyn Edwards going on to win the title.