Tasman golfers finish third, slip down rankings

Story by: WAYNE MARTIN - Nelson Mail - Photo by: By Chris Symes

Tasman slipped one spot further down the rankings after their third-place finish at the South Island interprovincial men's golf championships at Oamaru's North Otago Golf Club over the weekend.

Second for the past two years after their win at Motueka in 2007, Tasman finished third behind unbeaten Otago and second-placed Canterbury, despite losing only one of their four fixtures. Otago finished with 3 1/2 wins to Canterbury's 2 1/2, with Tasman on 2, Southland 1 1/2 and Aorangi 1/2.

Tasman began with a tight 4 1/2-3 1/2 win over Southland before losing 3-5 to Otago, with Blair Riordan, Hamish Campbell and Brett Allan picking up Tasman's only wins. All three recorded narrow 1-up victories against Brent McEwan, Mitch Bosley and Tyrone Ratahi respectively.

Tasman repeated their result of the previous weekend's quadrangular event at Paraparaumu Beach, with a 4-all half against Canterbury before being held to a surprising half against bottom-placed Aorangi in their final clash. Aorangi's half earned them their only points of the weekend, confirming their bottom-ranking with a heavy 8-0 loss to Canterbury in their final game.

Campbell, Riordan and No8 Tom Dasler each recorded three wins and a loss as Tasman's most successful players ahead of this week's announcement of the final six-man Tasman team, including a reserve, to contest the Toro interprovincial event at Paraparaumu, which will start on December 7.

Sean Riordan and Ryan Chisnall were both unavailable for the South Island event and were replaced in the side by Dasler and Nick Thomsen.

Meanwhile, Otago halved their opening clash with Southland before securing wins over Tasman (5-3), Canterbury (4 1/2-3 1/2) and Aorangi (4 1/2-3 1/2).

Results:

Tasman 4 1/2, Southland 3 1/2 (Tasman names first): Hamish Campbell lost to Liam Balneaves 4/3, Blair Riordan bt Cody Harper 5/4, Brett Allan lost to Vaughan McCall 9/7, Nick Ludbrook and Jeremy Hall square, Luke Jackson lost to Scott Hellier 6/5, Blair Bavin bt Mat Tautauri 2 up, Nick Thomsen bt Daniel Mills 2 up, Tom Dasler bt Kyle Dobbie 6/5.

Tasman 3, Otago 5: Riordan bt Brent McEwan 1 up, Campbell bt Mitch Bosley 1 up, Ludbrook lost to Michael Smith 3/1, Allan bt Tyrone Ratahi 1up, Bavin lost to Hamish Ireland 4/2, Jackson lost to Thomas Facer 1down, Dasler lost to Simon Hollyer 5/4, Thomsen lost to Chris Snow 1 down.

Tasman 4, Canterbury 4: Campbell bt Shaun Jones 1 up, Riordan bt Keelan Kilpatrick 3/2, Allan lost to Tom Turner 5/4, Ludbrook bt Owen Burgess 4/3, Jackson lost to Harry Bateman 4/3, Bavin lost to Scott Fox 6/4, Thomsen lost to Daniel Shin 5/3, Dasler bt Jordan Pentecost 5/4.

Tasman 4, Aorangi 4: Campbell bt Tim Leonard 3/2, Riordan lost to Daniel Perham 1 down, Allan lost to Cameron Grant 1 down, Ludbrook bt Simon Wright 2 up, Jackson lost to Jordon Green 5/4, Bavin bt Michael Barry 2/1, Thomsen lost to Regan Stills 1 down, Dasler bt George Wardell 5/4.

Other results: Southland 4, Otago 4; Canterbury 5, Southland 3; Southland 4 1/2, Aorangi 3 1/2; Otago 4 1/2, Canterbury 3 1/2; Otago 4 1/2, Aorangi 3 1/2; Canterbury 8, Aorangi 0.

Final points: Otago 3 1/2 wins (18 games) 1, Canterbury 2 1/2 (20 1/2) 2, Tasman 2 (15 1/2) 3, Southland 1 1/2 (15) 4, Aorangi 1/2 (11) 5.