Shine returns to North golfers

Northland's first win at the Toro Men's Interprovincial Golf Championships came amid foul weather at Manawatu Golf Club.
More than 100ml of rain has fallen in Palmerston North since the competition started on Tuesday.
Yesterday , as the sun shone, Northland put two close and disappointing 3-2 losses to Poverty Bay East Coast and Otago, along with a 5-0 "hiding" by North Harbour behind them, to defeat Aorangi 3-1.
Northland No.1 Brad Bonnington  was on top of his game, defeating Aorangi No.1 Mark O'Malley 2 and 1, while Brett Dormer beat Tim Leonard 2 up and Tony Mayo defeated Daniel Perham 1 up.
Martin Duff and Simon Wright were square, while reserve Lee Neumann lost to Peter Hayes 4 and 3.
Mayo has been impressive,  winning three of his four rounds, while Bonnington and Dormer have won two rounds apiece.
Although Northland trail in the division in seventh place and look out of the semifinals, Bonnington said  the team was looking for a big effort against heavyweights Southland and Canterbury in the final two rounds today.
Meanwhile, Canterbury managed a halved effort against defending champions Bay of Plenty after lanky lefthander Tom Turner bagged a 6m birdie putt on the last green to earn the crucial half.
It leaves Bay of Plenty and Canterbury sharing top spot in division one with three wins and a half, with 2005 champions North Harbour and minnows Otago only half a game behind.
They scored hard-fought wins over Southland and Poverty Bay respectively.
The four teams will fight it out in today's two rounds for two spots in the semifinals with Otago playing Canterbury and Harbour, who also play Bay of Plenty in the pivotal matches.
Wellington had to work hard to maintain their unbeaten record with four matches going to at least the 17th before ending the playoff hopes of hosts Manawatu Wanganui 3 to 1.
Last year's beaten finalists are joined at the top of division two by Hawke's Bay, who needed a brilliant birdie by New Zealand representative Daniel Pearce on the final hole to scrape out a 3-2 win over Taranaki.
The pair clash in today's  round with the winner assured  of a  semifinals spot, while the loser could still be vulnerable to Auckland and Waikato, who are currently one and a half games behind.
 Waikato will need to get past a pesky Tasman in the morning and then clash with Wellington in the final round.