Canty pitted against BoP
Auckland, Canterbury, Bay of Plenty and Wellington have won the right to compete for the Toro Women’s Interprovincial golf crown, being the top four sides after seven rounds of play.
The highly anticipated matchup between Auckland and Canterbury lived up to its hype with Auckland tipping the southerners 3-2.
The required three points came from the middle players of Brittney Dryland (5&4), Siyi Keh (1up) and Munchin Keh (3&2).
Dryland’s performance against the in-form Catherine Bell was the feature as she continued on her winning ways to remain unbeaten this week.
Heading into the final day of round robin play at Taranaki’s Westown Golf Club on Friday, Auckland, Canterbury and Bay of Plenty had all more or less wrapped up a spot in Saturday’s semifinals, leaving Wellington and North Harbour to fight for the final spot with two rounds to play.
With both teams taking comfortable wins in round six, North Harbour beating Northland 41⁄2-1⁄2 and Wellington beating Tasman 4-1, it all came down to the afternoon session with North Harbour needing a decent result against Bay of Plenty.
Bay of Plenty had steam-rolled the competition all week and didn’t let up on the final afternoon of round robin play, handing North Harbour a 3-2 loss.
This left the team relying on Northland to score an upset over Wellington, but it was not to be as Wellington scored a hard-fought 4-1 win and snuck into the top four by half a point.
Wellington will face Auckland in the semifinals, with Canterbury and Bay of Plenty to face off in the other fixture.
With a round six bye, hosts Taranaki made the most of coming into the afternoon round fresh on Friday to take a 31⁄2-11⁄2 win against Manawatu-Wanganui.
All teams will play again on Saturday, with both major and minor placings up for grabs.
However along with the excitement of the final day, there is also fear that rain could spoil the party. It is forecasted to be the worst day of the week which leaves the tournament in an interesting position.
There are a number of scenarios to determine the overall results which will all depend on the playability of the course.
From the weather reports available, the morning is starting to look playable, but from midday rain is forecast.