Canty stuns Auckland to reach semis

Press, 9 November 1985, Page 80

Canty stuns Auckland to reach semis

From 808 SCHUMACHER in Invercargill

The last green at Otatara, Invercargill, was invaded briefly late yesterday afternoon by a group of whooping, holloaing Canterbury golfers and supporters. Their attention was concentrated on that outstanding young player, Brent Paterson, who had just made an incredible putt from off the green to seal Canterbury’s victory against Auckland and to keep the title-holder out of today’s semi-finals in the Government Life national interprovincial championship. As winner of section one, Canterbury will meet Bay of Plenty, the runner-up in section two, in one semifinal this morning, and a rampant Waikato, the ony side to win all six section matches, will play Manawatu-Wanganui in the other.

Canterbury impressively beat Manawatu-Wanganui in the morning and the only casualty, Mark Street, had the misfortune to crack one of his contact lenses early in the round. He had no alternative but to carry on in the afternoon round as distress signals • were relayed, to Christchurch. A new J>air of lenses was

expected to be flown to Invercargill yesterday afternoon.

If Canterbury surrendered the Ranfurly Shield to Auckland this year, it has at least given itself a royal show of taking the country’s main golf trophy from that province. After being held to a half by Southland in the morning — and that only came about when Michael Atkinson, the Southland No. 1 three-putted the last green to drop the hole to Geoff Stephens — Auckland needed nothing worse than a draw when it met Canterbury in the final section round.

A draw seemed the most logical conclusion when Paterson and Stephens lined up their putts on the last green with the score at twoall.

Paterson was 1 up teeing off the last On the previous hole he holed a 6m putt for a birdie to retaliate for Stephens chipping in from the rough two holes previously. However, at the last Paterson pulled his drive and was shut out from the green by towering pines. He was forced to use a lofted club and left his approach short Stephens, too, missed the green with his.second but put his third a little less

than 2m from the hole.

Paterson had. already played a poor chip, running it past the pin, off the green and almost down the steep declivity at the back. “Whoa, whoa,” cried the Canterbury supporters as Paterson’s chip threatened to disappear completely, “go, go” said those backing Auckland. A worried Auckland manager, Colin Bell, confessed he had smoked more cigarettes that day than he had in the week, but he seemed relieved when Stephens was in good shape to take the hole. However, Paterson, a team-mate of Stephens at the Asia-Pacific championship in Australia earlier this year, made Mr Bell almost choke on his cigarette as he read the 11m putt to perfection.

It ran through the fringe of the green, over a wee hump, took a little late borrow and scuttled into the side of the cup. Then it was bedlam. Yet there were other telling contributions to Canterbury’s happy day. Paterson, who was two-under par against Stephens, in spite of two three putts, had his second eagle of the day at their second hole. John Williamson marched to his sixth straight win and

his vanquished opponent in the afternoon was the twice New Zealand match-play champion, Terry Pulman. Williamson, as he has been all week, was magnificent, ripping in early birdies against Pulman to be 4 up after 10. Pulman chipped away on the back nine and birdied the fifteenth to be 2 down. He could get no closer, however, and paid tribute to Williamson who was three-under at the finish.

After a good start, Paul Minifie, who was 2 up at the turn, came adrift against Greg Dyer and lost three holes from the tenth to the thirteenth. He was back to square after 14, but Dyer’s 8m birdie put at 17 was a winning one.

Street showed commendable determination against the international, Terry Cochrane, who had won his first five matches. Street lost the first four holes and was still 4 down with five to play, but took Cochrane to the last green and never considered his match a lost cause.

It was John Sanders who gave Canterbury its other win, and he did it the hard way. He and Glen Goldfinch were even for much of the matcfi, Sanders birdieing the twelfth to go 1 up. Then

he promptly lost two holes. Sanders was still 1 down with three to play, and overdue for a long putt. It came at the sixteenth, a birdie from 6m, and he won 17 when Goldfinch chose the wrong club for his approach to the green. At the last hole, Sanders had to two putt from 22m to remain ahead. He left his first putt 2m short, but there was no denying the. firmness of stroke which had the ball in the middle of the cup with his next putt. Manawatu-Wanganui, riding high on the wave after its defeat of Auckland on Thursday, was swamped by Canterbury in the morning round.

It was a top-class effort by the Canterbury side, the only loss coming when Street lost the last hole to the combined team’s No. 2, Paul Dench.

The most encouraging win for Canterbury came from its No. 1, Paterson, who overwhelmed an old adversary, the former international, Neil Gaskin. Results: Morning Tasman 2%, Wellington 2% E. Boult beat P. Devenport 6 and 5; 8. Thompson lost to F. Borren 2 and 1; L. Marfell beat M. Lane 5 and 4; 1 Donildson

lost to L. Phelps 1 down; M. Berthelsen all square with M. K. Webber.

Canterbury 4, Manawatu-Wan-ganui 1 B. G. Paterson beat N. Gaskin 5 and 4; M. E. Street lost to P. Dench 1 down; J. B. Sanders beat B. Stone 4 and 3; P. F. Minifie beat M. Wells 3 and 2; J. N. Williamson beat G. Ansley 1 up. Waikato: 3, Bay of Plenty 2 Otago 5, Poverty Bay-East

Coast 0 Southland, 2%, Auckland 2% Taranaki 4, Hawke’s Bay 1 AFTERNOON

Canterbury 3, Auckland 2

Paterson beat Stephens 1 up; Street lost to Cochrane 2 down; Sanders beat Goldfinch 1 up; Minifie lost to Dyer 2 down; Williamson beat Pulman 2 and 1.

Taranaki 3, Aorangi 2 H. Kennedy lost to C. Alexander 2 down; R. V. Rookes beat P. Hoes 5 and 4; B. McCallum lost to R. P. Bell 1 down; J. R. Kurta beat J. S. Burton 2 and 1; M. Martin beat S. Keen 4 and 3.

Southland 4, Manawatu-Wan-ganui 1 Final points after seven qualifying rounds: Section one: Canterbury 5% (21% individual wins), Manawatu 4 (14%), Auckland 3% (16%), Southland 3% (16%), Aorangi 2 (15), Taranaki 2 (13), Hawke’s Bay % (8). Section two: Waikato 6 (24%), Bay of Plenty 4 (18), Otago 3% (17), Tasman 3% (14%), Wellington 3 (16), Northland 1 (12), Poverty Bay-East Coast 0 (3).