After an intense week of premier representative golf, both our Canterbury Men’s and Women’s teams managed to qualify for the semi-finals of their respective tournaments, however unfortunately both were unable to progress to the final. Nonetheless, it was a quality week of Rep Golf action that both the Russley Golf Club and Harewood Golf Club hosted admirably with both courses in great order and with the added spectator seating on offer at Russley there was a great atmosphere for the healthy crowds in attendance to enjoy.
Women’s Overview
Our women’s team started their week ideally across at Harewood with two big 4-1 wins against Aorangi in the morning and Otago in the afternoon. In the Aorangi match Zaria Bourne and Junie Chang both on debut at this level both had strong wins 6&5 and 4&2 respectively alongside wins to Alisia Ren and Olive Tapu. In the Otago match all players went through unbeaten with Ren winning big again 6&4 at number 2 with Chang and Tapu again doing the job at the bottom of the order. Lannie Inoue making her debut at this level managed a half against Golf NZ womens rep Yoonae Jeong with Bourne also finishing A/S in her contest. On Day 2 the ladies moved across to Russley for their single match of the day against Bay of Plenty. In what was a very tight contest the women rallied well to come away with a narrow 3-2 win. The middle of the order provided the required results with Ren, Bourne, and Change, all members of our Canterbury Golf TDP programme, providing the wins and needed 3 points. Inoue meanwhile went down on the last and Tapu on the 17th.
That Wednesday result left the team in decent shape heading into day 3 where they faced defending champions Manawatu/Wanganui. Thankfully again the team combined well to find the required 3 wins. Once again it was the bottom of the order that did the business with Bourne, Chang and Tapu claiming wins. Zaria Bourne with the biggest result winning 6&4. So on to day 4 the team went with a return to Harewood with the knowledge that semi-final qualification was within reaching distance. The morning started with a tough test against tournament favourites Auckland, a challenge that proved too much on this occasion with the team falling 4-1. Junie Chang however continued her strong event claiming a 1up win in the number 4 position. In the afternoon they faced Waikato who sat just one place behind them in the table and were looking to take their spot in the semis. The moo-loo ladies produced a good showing and managed to take the win 3-2 with 4 of the 5 matches going down to the 17th hole. Pleasingly 16-year-old Lannie Inoue had her first win of the week at the tough number 1 spot winning 5&4, which in the end proved a crucial point with Canterbury managing to just scrap through to the semis on individual points having finished pool-play with 4 team wins.
Saturday then brought with it a semi-final showdown with the strong Auckland side who we had lost to heavily just 2 days prior, with the girls looking to cause the upset. The team however eventually fell but put out a very gutsy performance with Junie Chang and Olive Tapu both claiming 1up wins and then Inoue fighting back at number to take her match all the way to the 18th green before eventually falling 1 down for 3-2 team loss. All in all, a very strong and pleasing week for the team with 4 teenagers playing in spots 1-4, giving the team a lot of development and setting them up well for future tournaments.
The Women’s Division was eventually won by North Harbour who defeated Auckland in the final 3.5-1.5.
Men’s Overview
The men’s week started with a lot of optimism with a strong team named and plenty of local course knowledge at hand. After an initial morning round BYE on Day 1 the lads were chomping at the bit to get going against Manawatu/Wanganui at Russley in the afternoon and were able to get the job done convincingly winning out 4-1. Cooper Moore at number 1 and Cam Grant on debut for Canterbury at this level at number 5 went about their work in style winning 5&4 and 6&5 respectively. That coupled with wins to Sam McGill and Reid Hilton at 4 and 3 gave the men a ideal start. With that Day 1 win in hand the men next faced Otago over at Harewood on Day 2, knowing after how hard Otago pushed them at the recent SIIP that this would likely be a tough contest. However, the Canterbury me came out the blocks hot and managed to work their way to a strong 4-1 win. Moore again led from the front winning 4&3 with Yuki Miya getting his event underway with a 3&2 victory at number 2. Both Hilton and McGill again bagged wins with just Grant going 1D in his match. Next up in the afternoon, the team took on Tairawhiti in a match which saw the lads complete a 5-0 sweep with several big wins with no match progressing beyond the 15th hole.
Onto Day 3 they went with the action returning to Russley and a single round day. That round saw the men face Taranaki who had a positive event up until this point. The men were able to maintain their strong form and overcome the Taranaki lads 4-1 with just the one defeat at the top of the order. Both McGill and Hilton continued their perfect records with their 4th consecutive wins in the middle of the order. That result left the men in good shape knowing that a win against Waikato on Friday morning should see them through to the semi-finals. Thankfully they were able to get the job done in that one too eventually winning 3.5-1.5 in their closest match to date. Moore managed to win his match on the last with both McGill and Hilton again winning in the middle with a half to Grant at the bottom finishing things off.
That result meant their final pool game against also undefeated Auckland was effectively a match to decide who would top the pool. As expected, it was a very tight affair but with wins to McGill and Hilton yet again to make it 6 from 6 for them both and Miya halving his match that resulted in a halved 2.5-2.5 outcome. Adam Winter also made his debut coming in at the number 5 spot but lost narrowingly 1D on the last. The result was enough for Canterbury to top the pool with 5.5 points and 23 match points which set up a 2023 semi-final repeat vs Bay of Plenty who finished second in the other pool.
Finals day at Russley brought with it a lot of excitement with the men hoping to overcome a tough Bay of Plenty outfit and make the final. However, the early momentum of the match seesawed with Bay of Plenty playing some strong golf and unfortunately the arm wrestle then turned in the visitors favour on the back 9 with the men struggling to make their puts resulting in Bay of Plenty pulling away. The rare and first battling performance of the week came at the inopportune time for the men eventually falling 4-1 with Cooper Moore getting the solitary point for the team. A disappointing end to what was otherwise a week of great performances highlighting as ever the tough nature of sport. In the other semi, Auckland managed to beat Wellington and subsequently went on to defeat Bay of Plenty in the final 3-2 to defend their title.
Overall, it was an exceptional week of Rep golf with 5 days of stunning weather and a great number of spectators coming out. We thank the host clubs Russley and Harewood for doing Canterbury proud with their hosting and to the Canterbury Golfing public for coming out and supporting the players!
The full results can be found below:
2024 Men’s Interprovincial Results
2024 Women’s Interprovincial Results
The full Canterbury Golf team photos from the tournament can be viewed – HERE.
