Southern men go home as champs

THE only ones who didn’t think Southland’s historic first national interprovincial golf title was a shock result were the champions themselves.
“We came here to win it,” a member of the Southland squad said even before they had qualified for the semifinals.
They were prophetic words, backed up by a deserved 3-2 victory over six-time champions Bay of Plenty at the Poverty Bay course on Saturday afternoon. It was the first time the southerners had won the title in the tournament’s 61 years.
Poverty Bay was also the scene of the last major upset in national interprovincial history — Tasman won there in 1996, their first and only tournament triumph.
Tasman almost denied Southland the chance of 2011 success. The teams met in the final section-play round on Friday, with Southland needing to at least halve the clash to advance to the semis, and Tasman needing a victory.
The tie went down to the battle of the No. 1s, Southland’s New Zealand representative Vaughan McCall winning the 17th and 18th holes to snatch a half with Blair Riordan and secure the team half.
McCall, whose change of putters during the week was to prove vital, was one of the heroes again in their semifinal against Auckland. He put away New Zealand No. 1 amateur Ryan Fox 4 and 3, while 18th-hole wins to No. 4 Scott Hellier and unstoppable No. 5 Matt Tautari, and a half to No. 3 Liam Balneaves, secured their first-ever final spot.
Southland had flown under the radar but suddenly this was a title up for grabs.
Bay of Plenty, who beat Southland 3-2 in round one of section play, had to be favourites. They won all six of their section-play rounds, then beat Canterbury 3½-1½ in the semis, but as the likes of Northland had proved during the week by stunning Wellington and Auckland, it was very much an on-the-day situation.
National interprovincial veteran Tautari, described by team manager Corey Finn as their “rock at the top”, was their go-to guy for the eighth consecutive round. The big tattooed Maori doesn’t fit the stereotype of a typical golfer, but he has all the shots, and birdies on the 14th and 15th holes against Craig Hamilton set up a 3 and 2 win to put Southland on the board.
Wins to No. 4 Sam Davis (1-up) and No. 3 James Hamilton (2 and 1) had BoP 2-1 ahead but the remaining two matches were firmly in Southland’s grasp.
Harper made up and down out of the bunker on the 17th to inflict the first defeat of the week on BoP No. 2 and Poverty Bay Open champion Landyn Edwards, who was left to rue missed short putts on the 14th and 15th holes.
McCall was simply too solid for Brad Kendall and again his putter ran hot. He made a routine par on the 17th to seal the win and after a modest initial reaction, the enormity of what Southland had achieved sank in and the celebrations began.
“It is unreal,” Finn said.
“It’s really special for Southland golf and really special for all these boys. I am really proud of them . . . they stood up in the big moments.
“The whole team is stoked,” McCall said.
“It was what we came here to do and we are so pleased that the result came our way.”
Bay of Plenty manager Aaron Walsh said they were “gutted” but he acknowledged Southland’s superiority.
“We were just beaten by the better team on the day. Southland played some fantastic golf this afternoon and fully deserved their win.”
Tautari and James Hamilton finished the event with a perfect record of eight wins from eight matches.
The condition of the Poverty Bay course over the week received huge plaudits from players and officials alike.
Home side Poverty Bay-East Coast placed 14th out of the 15 provinces, avoiding the wooden spoon with a 3½-1½ win against Northland in the final round of section play.