GOLF - Newcomers force way into Northland squad

Northland golf selectors have included two new faces in the five-man interprovincial squad after solid performances in the team's third place in the Garrard Shield quadrangular tournament over the weekend.
Kamo High School student Alvin Rapana, who turned 17 this month, will play at number four in the team, while another newcomer to the Northland team, Waipu's Tony Mayo, will play at number five.
Selectors hope the new players will give the team the boost they need to make a strong run at this year's Lion Foundation interprovincial championships to be played at Mount Maunganui in early December - at the same course as the Garrard Shield competition was held at on Saturday and Sunday.
Rapana played at number three over the weekend in the 10-man Northland senior team. He was the only Northland player to record a victory in their opening 2-8 defeat by Bay of Plenty on Saturday by shooting a 68 to beat Bay regular Mark Smith 1-up.
The Northland Golf Club player then beat Auckland number three Hayden McCallum 5/4 in Northland's impressive 5-4 victory over Auckland on Saturday afternoon before losing to Waikato's Tane Robson 1-down in their biggest defeat of the weekend - a 1- 8 loss to Waikato on Sunday.
Rapana says he is looking forward to getting back to the Mount for the interprovincials after posting some great scores in the 10-man Garrard Shield team over the weekend.
"I've played at the Mount before and I like it and this time it's helped me to grab a spot in the seniors," he said.
"Playing at the interprovincials should be a lot of fun because I reckon we've got quite a strong team, strong enough to be contenders."
Northland selector Roy Pelsky said the form of Rapana and Mayo was good enough to see them safely into the team.
"Alvin stuck his hand up big time by playing really well this weekend - he won two out of three and really should have won the last game or at least halved it," he said.
Pelsky said both new players in the squad had played their way into the side by showing good form in the qualifying events and he was pleased with the final make-up of the team.
"We've had a second in the quad (quadrangular competition) and now we have a third in the Garrard Shield to add to that so that's pretty pleasing leading into the interprovincials - and don't forget that's without two of our top players there, so we're quietly happy with how we're going this year," he said.
The team will be headed by last year's number one Gary John Hill, who was still in the United States over the weekend after playing a tournament in Texas last week. Former number one Dale Clarke's recent return from overseas has further strengthened the team and he will slot in at number two, with Brad Bonnington, who was also unavailable over the weekend, playing at number three.
Pelsky said the availability of Mayo for the side this year had been another bonus for the side.
"We've always known he's been there but this year is the first time he's been able to free himself from other committments to play in all of the trial matches," he said.
Pelsky said Mayo's form at number two for Northland at Mount Maunganui had been solid and he had fought back well from a tough start to earn a half in his final match.
This year has seen almost almost unprecedented competition to get into the Northland team and Pelsky said Mangawhai's Gavin Welsh and Jeremy Hay were unlucky to miss out on selection.
"Jeremy has been a regular member of the team for years and he was a little bit unlucky and it was a tough call to make," he said.
The five-member junior Northland team also played well without winning a match in their tournament at the Mount, the Ralph Cup _ they lost 2-3 to Bay of Plenty and Waikato and 1-4 to Auckland.