The Championship 2 team had a fantastic 6.5-1.5 win over Titirangi at Maungakiekie.  Titirangi would have been clear favourites as they were the runaway winners of their section, while we were second in our group.  Maungakiekie, as expected was hard and bouncy in the fairways but the greens were true and running well.  Robert Hill (No.8) got into some early trouble and was 3down at one point but fought hard for a vital 2/1 win.  Finlay McKechnie and William were very solid and uncompromising to both win 3/2.  Max Clarke held an early lead and looked good at 2up with 2 to play but lost both holes to finish with a half.  Peter McCormack looked comfortable throughout and finished with a 4/3 win.  Daniel Whittaker had much tougher opponent on the day and at one point was 3down, but like the rest of the team, he fought back to win 1up.  At the top of the order Daniel Mar led early, but his opponent got in front with a hole-in-1 on the 13th.  Daniel then fought back to finally win 2/1.  Unfortunately, Brett Geyer at No.1 played an opponent on top of his game and was well beaten, 8/7.  This was a fantastic effort from everyone and a great confidence booster for the final.

 

Mike Maingay’s team now face Whitford Park in the final at Windross on Sunday.  They have already played them twice this year, losing 2-6 at Whitford and winning 5-3 at RGC.  So, nothing in it – all to play for on neutral turf.

 

Inter Club 3 were at Formosa against Maungakiekie, who were the top team from the other section.  The pairing of Mike Hyams (8) and Erik Jorgensen (7 or 6) has certainly paid off for this team.  Mike won 3/2 and Erik 2up – both remained unbeaten this year, although Mike (Scruffy) did have one half.  Other winners were David Annan (3/2), Chris Hanley (2up) and Wayne Scholtz (3/2).  They will play Titirangi in the final.  They met in the round-robin only once, losing 1.5-6.5 at Titirangi.  Unfortunately, the match at Remuera was abandoned when we went into Covid Level 3 for a week.  This was recorded as a 4-4 draw, although the team were looking forward to exacting some revenge.  A win in the final will certainly achieve that!

 

Our Championship 1 team were up against a very strong Titirangi team at Pakuranga.  There were 2 clear-cut results at the top and bottom of the order.  Logan Driver won 7/6, but to balance that Andrew Hipkiss lost at the top by the same margin.  The other 6 matches all went to the final hole.  Eamon Wairepo, Manu Taylor and Karl Jorgensen all lost 2/1, while Jaime Lansi (1Up) and Roger Hudson (2/1) both won.  Chris Goad’s half turned out to be the critical difference – a win would have resulted in a play-off.  Another very good season from this team, but we just miss out on the chance to win back-to-back titles.

 

Inter Club 2 were at Titirangi against the winners from the other section, Howick.  Rather like the Championship 1 they fell just short of a play-off.  Wins to Darren Soo (2/1), Jason Mar (3/2), and Angus Mackie (2/1), were supported by Alex Ivanov’s half.  The closest loss was Krish Krishna (3/1).  But 3.5-4.5 meant they had just missed out on a final place for the second year in a row.

 

Bissett Shield vs Whitford Park – Semi-Final starts from 8.03am