Auckland dominates; Otago finishes 8th
AUCKLAND was the runaway winner of the women’s Toro interprovincial teams tournament, beating Canterbury in the final by 41 on the Waitikiri course in Christchurch on Saturday afternoon.
The win gives Auckland its seventh title in eight years, a Canterbury win in 2015 being the only break in Auckland’s successful run.
A final berth for Auckland was never in doubt as it swept aside ManawatuWanganui, winning four of the five games in the morning semifinal.
Canterbury’s success in the other semifinal went down to the wire and it looked like a draw with North Harbour after No 5 Maddie May lost the last two holes. But Canterbury No 2 Hillary O’Connor broke the stalemate, winning the final hole to halve with Harbour’s Anna
An, giving her team a 3 to 2 win.
Meanwhile, Otago had to play off against the Bay of Plenty quintet to decide seventh and eighth placings.
The Bay team was too strong, winning by 31⁄25 to 11⁄2 to finish one place ahead of Otago.
Otago No 1 Laura Hoskin was in top form and had a resounding 8 and 7 win over Bay’s Rotana Howard.
Otago’s youngest player, Sumin Kang, was the only other golfer to feature when she halved with Bay No 5 Diana Syer.
Hoskin had a memorable week, scoring six wins from her seven games — the only loss being to Auckland’s Carmen
Lim. Kang also had a good tournament, registering three wins and a half, while No 2 Danielle Bailey notched three wins for the week.