Defeat of champs highlight for North

The Northland men's golf team rued missed opportunities at the Toro Men's Interprovincial in Auckland, but they were the only team to beat the eventual champions.

While Northland ended up 11th out of the 15 teams at the flagship event, they still have bragging rights over Manawatu-Wanganui after beating them in a final-hole putt earlier in last week's competition.

Golf Northland development manager Michael Macdonald said that while the week as a whole was disappointing, the highlight was beating the eventual champions.

He added that while the week did not go as planned, it was good to see a former Northland player, Sean Masters, in the final playing for Otago.

"We had our opportunities, that's for sure," he conceded. "There was a little expectation that we'd do well but it's a case of expecting it to happen rather than making it happen. The guys have all got talent, it wasn't quite the week we hoped for, but we'll be back next year and we'll build towards those semifinals because we've got the talent to be there.

"It was really good for the guys [to play Masters]. Chase McKeown ended up playing him [but] Sean won that in the end.

"If we had of won [the match against Otago] they wouldn't have gone through to the final. That's how close the competition was. It did come down to that last round." He said about five teams were "on the edge".

Macdonald said a few of the Northland players would train through the summer whereas the others would likely have time off after last week's event which is the pinnacle for their season.

"A few of them are going to stick with it over the summer. Lee [Neumann] and Kadin [Neho] are going to Australia in January for the Australian Amateur, and with Kadin being current New Zealand Amateur champ he'll be looking to add the Australian title."