Golf: Boon exorcizes ghost as North Harbour grab national title

North Harbour's Anita Boon buried some demons when she guided her team to a 3-2 victory in the New Zealand women's interprovincial final in New Plymouth.

Boon waved a clenched fist in the air after sinking a 2.5m putt on the final green of the deciding match in the rain-shortened final against Wellington at the Westown Golf Club.

Almost 12 months earlier, the 27-year-old Boon watched in horror as she blew a seemingly unassailable seven-up lead to lose the national amateur title to Wendy Hawkes in New Plymouth.

"This one makes up for that. I prepared myself that it was going to come down to me," Boon said.

"That putt on the last hole just had to go in. I have five other players who had put in so much effort there was no way that I was going to miss it.

"I can't describe the feeling when I saw it heading into the centre of the cup. This is the best feeling."

It is Boon's third final for Harbour. She came into the team a year after their first victory, in 1995. They lost the final to Auckland in 1998 and to Waikato-King Country in Dunedin two years ago.

The win comes at a time when Boon is setting a new direction in her career, withdrawing from the national Titleist academy.

"I've been in it for four or five years and now I want to set my own goals and achieve things on my own. If and when I turn professional, they won't be there to hold my hand."

Boon is also keen to re-establish herself in the national team after losing her place in this week's Espirito Santo team in Malaysia to Hawkes, who will partner Brenda Ormsby and Tina Howard.

Harbour took the early advantage, with teenagers Stacey Tate and Bobea Park grabbing wins over Margot Oliver and Sarah Nicholson respectively.

Wellington fought back with New Zealand representative Hee-Jeong Chun edging junior international Natalie Storck and former New Zealand and Australian junior champion Kyla Welsh beating Catherine Mitchell 1 up.

That left Boon to step up, bagging the winning putt over junior international Amy Smith.

Earlier, the two sides won their rain-delayed semifinals, with Harbour beating Canterbury and Wellington downing Taranaki.

All teams were forced to sit out a three-hour rain delay after heavy squalls flooded fairways and greens, forcing play to be suspended.

Organisers cancelled the playoffs to determine fifth to 14th placings.