Tasman women heading to Balmacewen
Tasman will send an experienced lineup to next weekend’s South Island interprovincial at Balmacewen in Dunedin next weekend
Thirteen-year-old Nelson player Lizzie Neale aside, there’s a seasoned edge to the eight-player mix that new coach Nick Loach hopes will benefit the side over the course of the season.
Tasman’s eight-player team for the interprovincial, in playing order, is Emily Stenhouse (Marlborough), Tracy Bary (Marlborough), Lizzie Neal (Nelson), Lesley Baxter (Nelson), Michele Reardon (Nelson), Natalee Reid (Greenacres), Pam Chapman (Motueka) and Jenny Ferrier (Nelson).
Loach, 24, is the assistant professional at the Nelson Golf Club and a former Tasman men’s rep- resentative, with Chapman and Ferrier the only newcomers to this year’s squad.
‘‘Although we’re an older side compared to the rest of the country, there are no expectations on them, they can just go ahead and go for gold really. We’re not the favourites by any means, but that being said, it should be pretty exciting.’’
He said that various selection issues, including the number of tournaments the contenders needed to play to be in contention, and practice regimes had all been part of the process.
‘‘It’s been a really good season with all of them competing, trying to work their way into the team. So the eight that are in there deserve to be there rather than in the past it was a bit more casual and sort of picked before the season had begun you could almost argue.
‘‘They’ve got plenty of potential ... they’re very good players and they’ll be going outside of their comfort zones slightly, so it’ll be good for them and the more golf they can play under pressure the better really.’’
Loach said that Balmacewen would provide specific challenges over the two-day event, starting on October 28.
‘‘It’s 36 holes a day, so that’s another challenge for the ladies. Balmacewen’s a very good golf course ... and extremely undulating. I’ve played a few tournaments there myself as a young’un and I was pretty knackered, so for these ladies it’s going to be a good physical test, and I think probably more than they realise. Thirty six holes around there is a serious slog.’’
Loach said that he’d shuffled the order around this year.
‘‘Lizzie Neale has obviously been playing well, we’ve got her at three slightly down the order with Tracy Bary further up. She’s played some good golf and she’s won a tournament or two this year so we’ll give her an opportunity.
‘‘And then you have the likes of Lesley Baxter and Michele Reardon further down the order, just a bit more solid in the middle of the team. And then six, seven, eight at the back are just the same, their golf games are pretty good and they’ve been going pretty well this year.
‘‘We’re just basically trying to get their heads switched and letting them know that it’s a team event and in golf you want to make the most of team events because you don’t get very many. So it’s fun really, just getting them all on the same page and just looking for to the trip really.’’