Pines, Mangawhai to battle for supremacy

The Pines  and Mangawhai golf clubs will battle it out for junior supremacy in Northland later this month after both teams won their semifinals on Sunday.
The Pines team had the home advantage as the teams of four battled it out on the course that played well after Saturday's rain but punished players who didn't hit straight down the fairway.
Golfers played two rounds against different opponents with the winner on handicap earning three points  per round towards the total score.
The results were something of a surprise with both last year's finalists  being beaten.
Mangawhai beat Waipu 21 points to 10 and The Pines beat Whangarei 23 points to 9.
With many of the golfers barely in their teens, playing 36 holes proved to be a very demanding schedule and the final golfers left the course in the dark at 5.40pm.
The Pines' Luke Brown shot the lowest score off the stick on the day with a five-over 76, including a three-under back nine.
Mangawhai 13-handicapper Jacob Hassell perhaps had the most outstanding round of the day scoring a 77 off the stick but there were many other stories of players who raised their game in the cauldron of competition.
The semifinals followed a round-robin series of five rounds in which 12 teams of four took part.
The teams were as far afield as Rawini-Kaikohe in the far north to Mangawhai in the south.
The finals are to be played at Northern Wairoa on July 26 where Mangawhai will play the Pines for first and second place and Waipu will play Whangarei for third and fourth.