Women are aiming higher

Manawatu¯ -Whanganui’s women’s golfers will be looking to climb the rankings at the national interprovincial championships this week.

Manawatu¯ -Whanganui start their campaign at the Waitikiri Golf Club in Christchurch tomorrow and will be out to improve on their 10th-place finish last year and ninth place the year before.

Manawatu¯ -Whanganui will go into the tournament in good form, having beaten Taranaki 10-2 in a warmup match at Te Ngutu Golf Club in Normanby recently.

The team is this year led by Whanganui No 1 Tara Raj, a teenager who won the Manawatu¯ Open this year. Fellow youngster Zhuoyi Hu, from Palmerston North, will play at No 2.

Levin’s Brydie Hodge played at No 1 last year, so will be a key player at No 3 this year. Lisa Herbert, of Manawatu¯ , is at No 4, Lily Griffin, Manawatu¯ , is at No 5 and Palmerston North’s Casey Chettleburgh is the reserve.

Manawatu¯ -Whanganui play Waikato and Taranaki tomorrow, and Canterbury and Bay of Plenty on Wednesday.

They have the bye on Thursday morning, then play Southland in the afternoon, before the final pool game against Wellington on Friday morning.

Meanwhle, Manawatu¯ Whanganui’s men’s golfers missed out on qualifying for the semifinals at the men’s tournament at Clearwater Golf Club in Christchurch last week.

Manawatu¯ -Whanganui started well by beating Aorangi 5-0 and North Harbour 3-2 on the opening day, then lost to Wellington 31⁄2-11⁄2, beat Waikato 3-2, halved with Bay of Plenty 21⁄2-21⁄2 and halved 21⁄2-21⁄2 with Poverty Bay East Coast.

No 1 Tyler Wood had four wins, a loss and a half. Sam Nichols had five wins and a loss. Liam Finlayson had two wins, three losses and a half. Greg Shaw had one win, three losses and a half. Reid Perry had four wins and two losses and reserve Regan Mcconaghty had one loss.