Close call for Canty golfers

Press, 6 May 1981, Page 46

Close call for Canty golfers

PA Nelson Canterbury, one of the favourites, came through its first two rounds of Russell Grace play yesterday unscathed, but it was a close call.

The runner-up last year, Canterbury was expected to beat Otago easily, but it was a dourly-fought battle right to the end, no match finshing before the fourteenth hole; and in the afternoon round Canterbury was again held to a 3-2 margin by South Canterbury. In a tense encounter decided only on the last green by their number twos, Canterbury beat Otago, 3-2. Canterbury’s Adrienne Bond came to the final hole one-up and needing only to halve to seal victory for her side. She did better than this with a trouble-free par, winning two-up. In one of the feature matches of the morning, Canterbury’s No. 1, Sue Bishop, surprisingly went down to Melanie Irvine. Mrs Bishop appeared to lose confidence in her short game after the first few holes and her opponent managed to capitalise and win the match 3 and 2. The top-ranked Auckland side knows it will have to fight all the way if it is to win its sixth successive title. Against all expectations it managed only a 3-2 win over the lowly-rated ManawatuWanganui side, twelfth last year. Its morning win was more creditable. It beat Waikato-King Country, 5-0. This team finished in ..third place last year.

The highly-regarded Bay of Plenty-Thames Valley side, tipped as a possible giant-killer, had two easy wins. It beat the bottom seed,. Taranaki, 5-0, in the morning, and dropped only one game against Northland in the afternoon. The Bay of Plenty-Thames Valley No. 1 player and 1980 New Zealand champion, Brenda Rhodes, led throughout her match with Anne Butler, but Mrs Butler played an excellent tee shot on the short par-three sixth hole to stop near the pin and win the hole. Miss Rhodes did not prolong the match, however, and beat Butler 4 and 2 on the next hole. The Nelson-West CoastMarlborough side had mixed fortunes yesterday. Buoyed by a creditable 3 and 2 win over Northland in the morning it had a struggle on its hands all the way against Hawke’s Bay-Poverty Bay, losing 4 and 1. The two number ones had a tremendous batttie which ended on the seventeenth green, Mrs Kaylene Burris beating Miss Debbie Randell two-up. Mrs Burns, a former international trialist, won all six games in last year’s competition and is obviously out to repeat the performance, but it was a disappointing result for Miss Randell, who lost only one match last year.

UANTERBURY 3. OTAGO 2 Mrs S. Bishp lost to Miss M. Irvine 3 and 2; Mrs A. Bond beat Mrs R. G. Dryden 2-up; Mrs J. Ross beat Mrs M. de Lambert 5 and 5; Mrs K. Mann lost to Mrs C. R. Colquhoun 2-up; Mrs. C. Skinner beat Mrs I. D. McDonald 2-up. NWCM 3, NORTHLAND 2 Mrs A. Butler lost to Miss D. Randell 5 and 4: Mrs G. Dalbeth lost to Miss S. Armstrong 5 and 4; Mrs S. Gray lost to Mrs B Win 2 and 1; Miss’ E. Boleyn beat Mrs t. Rewita 2-up; Miss S. Smith beat Mrs B. Nightingale 1-up. HB-PB 312. SOUTH CANTY Hi Miss K. Burns lost to Mrs J. Keliahan 2 and 1; Miss M. Simpson beat Mrs B. McCone 1-up: Mrs A. les beat Mrs H. Hames 5 and 3; oCMrs B. Peersn beat Mrs A. Seed 4 ad 2; Mrs J. Hembrow square Mrs nM. L. Watt quare. AUCKLAND 5, WAIKATO-K.C. 0 8.P.-T.V. 5, TARANAKI 0 , WELLINGTON 5, MANAWATU 0 » Round 3.— S: CANTY 3, SOUTH CANTY .2 Mrs S. Bishop beat Mrs J. keliahan 7 and 5; Mrs A. Bond beat Mrs B. McCone 5 and 4; Mrs J. Ross beat Mrs H.Hames 3, and 2; Mrs K. Marin lost to Mrs A. Seed 2up; Mrs C. Skinner lost to Mrs M.. L. Watt 2-up. HB-PB 4, NWCM 1 Miss K. Burns beat Miss D. Randell 2 and 1; Miss M. Simpson lost to Miss S. Armstrong 2 and 1; Mrs A. Coles beat Mrs B. Win 4 and 2; Mrs B. Petersen beat Mrs T. Rewita 2 up; Mrs J. Hembrow beat Mrs B. Nightingale 5 and 4. SOUTHLAND 4. OTAGO 1 WAIKATO-K.C. 3, WELLINGTON 2 8.P.-T.V. 4. NORTHLAND 1 Points after the third round are: Auckland 4, Bay Of Plenty-Thames Valley 4, Canterbury 4, Southland 4, son-West Coast-Marlborough 4, Wellington 4. Waikato-King Country 2, Manawatu-Wanganui 0, Northland 0, Otago 0, South Canterbury 0, Taranaki 0.