Bay golfers beaten in championship semi-final

Hawke's Bay No 1 Mako Thompson, the only player to beat Canterbury No and Player of the Tournament Kazuma Kobori, pictured at last year's tournament in Hastings. Photo / File

The Hawke's Bay men's golf team has emerged with one of the region's best national inter-provincial tournament results by reaching the semi-final after a dramatic turn-around in form over five days' play at Whitford Park, Auckland.

Losing 4-1 to Wellington and halving with eventual beaten finalists North Harbour in the first two rounds on a damp opening day last Tuesday, Hawke's Bay won the last four in pool play, including an upset 3.5-1.5 win over defending champion and pre-tournament favourite Auckland on Thursday and a 3-2 win over Waikato on Friday afternoon, to snatch a place in the playoffs.

The dream ended with a 3-2 loss on Saturday morning to Canterbury who went on to beat North Harbour 3-2 and claim the title for the first time in 20 years.

Hawke's Bay No 1, top-three nationally ranked, and former national Under-19 champion, Mako Thompson, 21, of Maraenui Golf Club topped the week's effort for the Bay, with five wins from seven matches, including a 1-up win over Canterbury's Kazuma Kobori in the semi-final, the only defeat in eight matches for the eventual Player of the Tournament.

Bay No 5 Zach Swanwick played all seven matches for four wins and a half, No 3 Tyson Tawera had four wins from six matches, and No 2 Russell Mitchell had four wins, including his side's other win in the semi-final - 1-up over Canterbury counterpart Matt McLean.

Hawke's Bay was 7th last year when the tournament was played at Hastings Golf Club and was last in the semi-finals at Mangawhai in Northland in 2017, after finishing 14th the previous year, and having not reached the semi-finals since 2004. It has not won since 1969.

After getting the crucial last point to get Hawke's Bay into the playoff, Mitchell said he felt the pressure but was glad to get the team home.

"I had to try get in somehow, I wasn't playing that well at all, but found a way to do it," he told NZ Golf Media.

He was part of the semi-final team in 2017 when they also made the semi-finals, but this year felt the team could have gone one better.

Canterbury faced a particularly tense and close final against North Harbour, which had also bounced-back from a poor start to the tournament.

Much was on the shoulders of Kobori in the late stages and he said later: "I thought we were out of it. Down the stretch when I was on 15, I thought we were in trouble. I was two down, but I sort of pulled my game together from there."

Semi-final results

North Harbour 4 Taranaki 1 James Hydes def Sam Jones 5/3, Kit Bittle def Ethan Jones 5/3, Jesper Bengtsson def Joseph Doyle 2/1, Jerry Ren lost to Chris Charlton 3/2, Jason Gulasekharam def Caleb Symes 3/2

Canterbury 3 Hawkes Bay 2 Kazuma Kobori lost to Mako Thompson 1up, Matt McLean lost to Russell Mitchell 1up, Reid Hilton def Tyson Tawera 5/4, Zach May def Stu Duff 4/3, Mike Toeke def Zach Swanwick 2/1

Final Results

Canterbury 3 North Harbour 2 Kazuma Kobori def James Hydes 1up, Matt McLean def Kit Bittle 2/1, Jesper Bengtsson def Reid Hilton 4/3, Zac May lost to Jerry Ren 2/1, Mike Toeke def Jason Gulasekharam 1up.

Hawke's Bay matches in pool play:

Round 1: Wellington 4 v Hawkes Bay 1 Jayden Ford def Mako Thompson 2/1, Jonothan Cane def Russell Mitchell 2/1, Matt Morris def Jeff Tuoro 7/6, Sam Marsters lost to Stuart Duff 6/5, Kerry Mountcastle def Zach Swannick 6/5

Round 3: North Harbour 2.5 Hawkes Bay 2.5 James Hydes lost to Mako Thompson 2/1, Kevin Koong lost to Russell Mitchell 4/3, Kit Bittle def Tyson Tawera 3/2, Jesper Bengtsson def Stuart Duff 2/1, Jerry Ren halved with Zach Swannick.

Round 4: Hawkes Bay 4 Southland 1Mako Thompson def Matt Tautari 2/1, Russell Mitchell def Tyler McLean 7/5, Tyson Tawera def Liam Hewitt 3/2, Stu Duff lost to Liam Balneaves 3/2, Zac Swanick def Rob Mainland 2up

Round 5 - Hawkes Bay 3.5 Auckland 1.5 Mako Thompson def Jared Edwards 5/4, Russell Mitchell lost to Jimmy Zheng 2/1, Tyson Tawera def Johnny Tynan 1up, Stu Duff halved with Jaeseung Na, Zack Swannick def Josh Leitch 3/2

Round 6: Hawkes Bay 4 Bay of Plenty 1 Mako Thompson def Mitch Kale 4/3, Russell Mitchell lost to Shaun Campbell 1up, Tyson Tawera def James Tauariki 1up, Stu Duff def Jayme Martin 3/2, Zach Swanwick def Josh Morris 1up

Round 7: Hawkes Bay 3 Waikato 2 Mako Thompson lost to Charlie Smail 3/2, Russell Mitchell def Jordan Woodall 2up, Tyson Tawera def Sam Vincent 1up, Stu Duff lost to Ben Slaven 3/2, Zack Swanwick def Adam Winter 2/1