Golf: BOP show quality in Men's Interprovincials

Bay of Plenty has shown their quality once again to be the only unbeaten team at the Toro Men's Interprovincial after round five was completed in cool and windy conditions today at the Otago Golf Club.

The six-time champions, who have won their six titles in the past 10 years, continued their fine form at the national team's championship when they defeated hosts Otago by 3 1/2 to 1 1/2.

The win saw the Bay, who won the title three times in a row from 2007-2009, confirm their position as the top team in Division Two after scoring 15 individual points from a possible 20.

The Bay has all but secured their place in the final four and the other teams in Division Two who are playing to join them are Otago, who are yet to have their bye, Tasman, Northland and outsiders Canterbury.

In Division One, leaders Southland lost 3-2 to Manawatu-Wanganui in round five to lose some momentum. The defending champions remain top of Division One but there will be a scrap tomorrow for positions in the playoffs.

Southland, Manawatu/Wanganui, Auckland, Wellington and to a lesser extent Waikato all have a chance of making the semifinals.

Bay of Plenty team manager Aaron Walsh was impressed by his team's round five effort that was sealed by wins from Peter Lee, Sam Davis and Victor Janin.

"It was a good performance this morning," said Walsh.

"We thought it would be a good match with the Otago boys being at home but we were pretty clinical and got the points on the board which was pleasing.

"Peter Lee and Sam Davis right in the middle of the team are both undefeated. They are the backbone of our team and those guys have been fantastic."

Davis is enjoying his golf and said the start of players three, four and five is all important to the team's chances.

"The team has just got to play solid. It is great when Pete, Victor and I get off to a hot start it takes the pressure off the rest of the team, because they are tough matches and can go either way. So the momentum from the early matches is really important.

"I just seem to play really good at the start and then hold on. It seems to be working. I am putting really well so it's good fun."

Toro Men's Interprovincial - Round Five Scores - Otago Golf Club, Dunedin

Manawatu / Wanganui 3 Southland 2

Josh Munn bt Tyler McLean 1up, Lachie McDonald lost to Scott Hellier 5/4, Trent Munn bt Liam Balneaves 4/2, Junior Tatana bt Jeremy Hall 3/1, Hayden Ring lost to Matt Tautari 2/1

Auckland 3 Wellington 2

Sam An bt Marc Jennings 3/2, Nick Voke lost to Fraser Maclachlan 2down, Tae Koh lost to James Donnelly 5/3, Jonathan Ratcliffe bt Adam Church 2up, Josh Leitch bt Peter Brinsdon 2/1

Tasman 4 Poverty Bay EC 1

Blair Riordan bt Steven Donnelly 1up, Hamish Campbell bt Andrew Higham 2/1, Ryan Chisnall halved with William Brown, Nick Ludbrook bt Ruel Pedersen 3/2, Tom Dasler halved with Matthew Mackey

Bay of Plenty 3 Otago 1

Brad Kendall halved with Brent McEwan, Peter Lee bt Michael Smith 4/3, Sam Davis bt Samson Kim 7/6, Victor Janin lost to Brandon Hodgson 1down, Landyn Edwards bt Tony Giles 5/4

Hawkes Bay 3 Taranaki 2

Richard Squire lost to Brad Hayward 1down, Ben Swinburne lost to Jaime Reid 3/2, Russell Mitchell bt Zac Lewis 1up, Madison Noakes bt Joseph Doyle 2/1, Carlos Tawera bt Brook Gray 5/4

Aorangi 3 Waikato 2

Cameron Grant bt Compton Pikari 2up, Jordan Green bt Luke Toomey 3/2, Garth Simpson lost to Tom Brockelsby 8/6, Damian Rodgers bt Ho Jun Sung 1up, George Wardell lost to Steven Kuggeleijn 6/5

Northland 3 Canterbury 1

Luke Brown lost to Jordan Bakermans 4/3, Chase McKeown bt Owen Burgess 1up, Sean Masters bt Harry Bateman 6/5, Brad Bonnington halved with Nic Kay, Kaden Neho bt Tom Turner 1up

Division One Standings:

Team Points Individual Points Team (*Not had the Bye)

3 14.5 Southland

3 12.5 Manawatu / Wanganui

3 11.0 Auckland

3 11.0 Wellington

2 11.5 Waikato

1 9.0 Aorangi *

1 8.0 Taranaki

1 7.5 Hawkes Bay *

Division Two Standings:

Team Points Individual Points Team (*Not had the Bye)

4 15.0 Bay of Plenty

3 12.5 Otago *

2.5 14.0 Tasman

2 9.0 Northland

1.5 9.5 Canterbury

1 8.0 North Harbour

1 7.0 Poverty Bay EC *