Canterbury recovers to draw with Otago

Press, 20 September 1982, Page 18

Canterbury recovers to draw with Otago

By

BOB SCHUMACHER

After two days of competition the very last putt decided the resurrected representative golf match between Otago and Canterbury at Coringa yesterday. The Otago No. 2, Michael Atkinson, who had threeputted the seventeenth green to allow his opponent. Brent Paterson, to remain in the game, was in danger of repeating the dose at the last when he left his approach putt 1.5 m short. At that point. Canterbury was ahead. 87’2. and Atkinson badly needed his second putt to remain 1 up and square the contest for Otago. The putt was on target all the way.

The fact that Canterbury managed to square the match, and even had a chance of victory had Atkinson missed his putt, was quite astounding. After the afternoon round on Saturday, Canterbury was behind, S'/z-Wz. Yesterday morning it started the second round even more disastrously. and after 10 holes Otago led G'z-lVz. The sudden strengthening of the north-westerly wind on the back nine occurred at the same time as a sterling Canterbury resurgence.

The remarkable recovery, which had the Otago selectors nonplussed when it was all over, was led by the bottom pair in the Canterbury eight-man team. Paul

Minifie and James Angus.

Minifie was 1 down after 10 against Philip Conlon, but won 11. 12 and 13 as the Otago player experienced a bad patch. Conlon redeemed himself by winning 14 and 17 to return to square and they stayed that way when both safely made pars on the last hole.

Angus, the only Canterbury player to win both matches, did even better. He was 3 down to the youthful Chris Timms after 10 but was level three holes later. Timms had reason to feel demoralised when Angus chipped in for a birdie at 14 and the lean Canterbury player put it beyond doubt with another birdie at 16. The Canterbury bottom order did an admirable job for the team. The No. 6, Stephen Greenall, and the No. 5. Mark Street, both contributed wins. Street was always ahead of Stephen Morshuis and he played with such aplomb that Canterbury supporters marked him as a winner a long way from the finish. However. Greenall did not cement' his win until the last hole. He trailed Dave Romeril for most' of the match and was 2 down after nine. They traded holes regularly on the homeward half, but the little Waimairi Beach player, by virtue of some excellent pressure putting, made his break near the end.

He squared the match at 14 and won the next two

holes. Romeril kept in the match by winning 17 with a testing 2m putt, but he sacrificed his chance of a half on the last hole when his second shot ricocheted off a .tree and into the rough.

The talented Alan Rose, a young player who hits the ball vast distances and possesses an uncanny touch with his short game, gave Otago its first win in the second round when he beat the Canterbury match-play champion. Geoff Saunders.

Sanders lost the fourth, fifth and sixth holes, all to birdies, and never recovered after being 3 down after six. His playing partner. John Saunders, was another to have a birdie burst at a crucial time.

The former Otago player lacked control of his short game against his Freyberg team-mate, Ron Johnston, and was 3 down at the turn.

Then came a startling surge by Sanders. He had birdies at 10. 13, 14 and 16, won those four holes, and the twelfth with a par. Johnston's confidence drained completely in the face of Sanders' . full-scale assault and he was beaten at the sixteenth.

Otago had to win the top two games to draw the competition and Atkinson and the No. 1. Kim McDonald, obliged. Atkinson, who putted superbly and was four-under par when inflicting a big loss on Williamson on Saturday, was never behind against Paterson after winning th.e second and third holes. Several times Paterson displayed a touch of class to

win back a hole, but just as quickly lost it through putting lapses. Paterson played equally as well as his accomplished opponent from tee to green but three putts at 13 and 15 cost him dearly.

Atkinson lost a little of his authority on the greens towards the finish, but he kept ahead and made a vital putt on the last to the relief of his team-mates.

McDonald started badly against Williamson and was 2 down after three holes. The Otago left-hander saved holes by delicate chips and one putts and he squared the match when Williamson three-putted the eighth and ninth greens.

The luck of the bounce did not always go in Williamson's favour on the back nine, but it was McDonald's greater consistency with the short game that sealed the fate of the Canterbury captain on the seventeenth. Results were:— SATURDAY Canterbury 3's, Otago 4'a J. N. Williamson lost to M. J. R. Atkinson. 6 and 5: B. G. Paterson lost to K. McDonald. 2 down: J. B. Sanders halved with A. Rose; G. C. Saunders beat R. Johnston. 4 and 3: M. E. Street lost to D. Romeril. 1 down: S. Greenall lost to S. Morhuis.,2 and 1; J. M. Angus heat P. N. Conlon. 4 and 2: P. F. Minifie beat C. ,Timms. 2 and 1. SUNDAY Canterbury 4'2, Otago 3'a Williamson lost to McDonald. 2 and 1: Paterson lost to Atkinson. 1 down; Sanders beat Johnston. 3 and 2; Saunders lost to Rose. 3 and 2: 'Street beat Morshuis, 4 and 3: Greenall beat Romeril. 2 up: Angus beat Timms. 2 and 1; Minifie halved with Conlon.