Golf: Bay gunning for eight but it'll be hard

Charlie Hillier, 17, will play at No1 for Bay of Plenty. Photo / File

Bay of Plenty will attempt a record eighth successive defence of the Garrard Shield this weekend in the sumptuous surroundings of the Kerikeri Golf Club.

The competition, which began in 1954, is a highly competitive men's match-play quadrangular, contested annually by provincial powers Northland, Auckland, Waikato and Bay of Plenty.

During the first 48 years of their existence, Bay of Plenty won just once, in 1971, but since 2002 they have triumphed in 10 of the last 12 years.

Only Waikato wins in 2004 and 2005 upset the perfect sequence.

From those outstanding Bay of Plenty teams, many players have moved on to turn professional, highlighted by US PGA tour player Danny Lee.

Other notable past Bay of Plenty players include Josh Geary, Jared Pender, James Hamilton, Craig Hamilton, Kieran Muir, Eddie Burgess, Jason McIntosh, Mark Smith, Victor Janin and Peter Lee.

But this year's team lacks that sort of star power and the experience of the other three teams involved.

Half of the Bay of Plenty players are young enough to be in the Ralph Cup team that is also competing in Kerikeri in the under-19 quadrangular.

Bay of Plenty Golf chief executive Chris McAlpine says attempting to replicate that outstanding record of previous years looks particularly challenging, particularly with the lack of an experienced player in the crucial No1 slot.

"With all due respect to 17-year-old New Zealand Academy player Charlie Hillier, there is no standout player at the top of the order," said McAlpine.

"One encouraging aspect for the Bay is that long-time Interprovincial players Sam Davis and Landyn Edwards have both managed to juggle work commitments to be available for this event and the Interprovincial in December.

"Both have fantastic records at the highest level, especially at match play, and at anywhere near their best will challenge whatever their opponents can throw at them."

Waikato have national reps in Luke Toomey, Nick Coxon and Denzel Ieremia to lead them out, Auckland have 2014 NZ Amateur champion Tae Koh and Northland last year's champion Kaden Neho.

Bay of Plenty are captained by Hayden Beard, the best ranked of the players and the most experienced. Beard outplayed the rest of the Bay team at the recent Carrus Tauranga Open, finishing 17th equal at six-under.

Bay of Plenty face Auckland on Saturday morning, home team Northland in the afternoon and Waikato on Sunday.