Northland topple Auckland
Northland have won their first New Zealand men’s interprovincial golf title in the 68-year history of the event, downing Auckland 4-1 in the final at Clearwater Golf Club yesterday.
When a magnificent hole-out eagle two from the fairway by Kadin Neho on the challenging 13th sent him 4 up with just five holes to play, it seemed it had to be Northland’s day in Christchurch.
Neho, the Northland No 3, sealed his win over Johnny Tynan 5 and 3, the biggest win on finals afternoon.
After squeezing into the final four yesterday, the Northlanders used all that momentum and more to carry them home and write one of the great underdog stories.
With Northland No 1 Alex Neeley downing Jimmy Zheng 1 up, after he led by three holes after five, then Taylor Gill also notching a 1 up win at No 2 over Kunaal Singh after a might scrap, Northland were well on their way.
Neho held a four-hole lead after nine holes over Tynan, and closed the match out on the
15th green.
Northland also won at No 4, where Dale Clarke took it 4 and 3 over Jang Hyun Lee. Luke Brown lost 3 and 2 at No 5.
In the semifinals, Northland downed home side Canterbury
3.5-1.5, with only Neho losing, while Auckland lowered Wellington 3-2 in a tight affair in which two Auckland wins came on the
18th, and two more on 17. Auckland, unbeaten until the final, put Wellington away with wins for Zheng, Singh and Tynan to give them the chance to win the title for the first time since
1995.