KEY POINTS:
Australia's leading amateur golfers excelled outside their comfort zone to dominate the Trans Tasman Cup international in Wellington yesterday.
Heavy rain forced the cancellation of the morning foursomes before the first round of singles started in the afternoon.
While the New Zealanders thought a rain-soaked Royal Wellington course would give them some advantage, it was the Australians who dominated to lead 10-6 overall after the first day.
Their dominance came in the junior ranks where New Zealand could not win a match - their only points coming with halves to Waikato's Emily Perry and Masterton's Ben Campbell.
Campbell came back from three down with four holes to play against Australian No 1 Daniel Nisbet.
But New Zealand lead the senior men's competition 3-1 after wins to debutante Daniel Pearce of Canterbury, Bay of Plenty's Jared Pender and Nick Gillespie of Hawkes Bay.
Pearce was always in front in his match against Josh Younger, leading two up at the turn on the way to his 2 and 1 victory.
Pender, a Tauranga horse trainer, fought back from three down against Jason Scrivener, winning four of six holes to prevail 2 and 1, while Gillespie was three-under-par in beating Australian No 1 Matt Griffin 2 and 1.
Australia's win went to Scott Arnold, who was five-under in a superb performance to beat Danny Lee 5 and 3.
Lee had rushed back from Europe to compete in the event after appearing for Asia Pacific in the Sir Michael Bonallack Trophy.
The senior women's team shared the spoils 2-2, with newly crowned New Zealand amateur champion Dana Kim continuing her brilliant form.
Kim was four-under in her 4 and 3 win over Stephanie Na.
Caroline Bon, in her international debut, beat Julia Boland, who won both the Riversdale and Lake Macquarie Cups this year. Australia's wins went to Clare Choi and Kristie Smith over Penny Smith and Larissa Eruera respectively.
Australia won both junior contests by 3 1/2 to 1/2 margins.
"There were some excellent performances from a number of players, particularly our seniors," said New Zealand Golf high performance manager David Graham.
- NZPA