Golf: All Australian final in NZ matchplay

4.15pm

The Anzac spirit was not live and well this afternoon with Australian golfers, Gavin Flint and Jarrod Lyle, as they unceremoniously dumped the last of the New Zealanders out of the national matchplay championship in Taupo.

Flint, from the Virginia club in Brisbane, and Lyle, from the Shepparton club in Melbourne, qualified to play the 36-hole final at the Centennial course tomorrow by beating Auckland's Logan Holzer and Canterbury's Andrew Searle in one-sided semifinals.

Flint won 5 and 3 and Lyle 7 and 5.

The two 22-year-old Australians were on song with their putters whereas Holzer (The Grange) and Searle (Russley) failed to slot the vital 2m and 3m putts.

Surprisingly neither Flint nor Lyle have met each other in match play despite being among their country's best players, but they have a healthy respect for each other.

"Jarrod's will be very tough, he's playing well, Flint said.

"Gavin is really good at match play (he is the present amateur champion of Queensland, Victoria, and New South Wales) but I played some very good golf myself today and made a lot of good putts," Lyle said.

After finishing fourth in the Australian stroke-play championship and runner-up in the match play at Royal Adelaide a month ago, then losing the New Zealand strokeplay championship in a prolonged playoff on Thursday, Lyle might feel he is overdue for a major title.

Flint and Searle played the best golf in the morning quarterfinals and were two-under when eliminating Mark Smith (Springfield) and Troy Ropiha (New Plymouth), respectively. Flint ended his match with successive birdie putts from 5m and 4m.

Holzer, at 25 the oldest of the quarter-finalists, beat the youngest of the eight, Michael Sim (Western Australia), who was a beaten finalist last year.

Lyle, after losing the first three holes to Queenslander Justin Maker, had squared the match after seven. He went ahead for the first time at 13 and matched Maker's pars over the last five holes.

- NZPA