Wellington became the most successful district in the 60-year history of the men's interprovincial golf tournament after winning the final on home turf yesterday.
They outlasted 2005 winners North Harbour 4-1 in the final, fought in demanding and testing conditions at Paraparaumu Beach Golf Club on the Kapiti Coast. Players had to cope with strong and gusting north-westerly winds that gave way to persistent rain and turned back to strong winds at the end of the day.
It marks 10 years since Wellington last won the prize as the best provincial team in the country, and they've now gone one ahead of Auckland in the all-time list of wins in the event.
It proved a major achievement for Wellington captain Adam Church, on the losing team in the finals in 2007 and 2008 and the semifinals last year.
"This means a lot. It's been a lot of hard work over the years. Getting close so many times into the semifinals and finals. It's really, really nice to finally get over the line for the province," Church said. "The boys deserve it and worked really hard this week. There were a lot of upsets but we just stuck to our game plan.
"The score was a lot closer than 4-1 today which was typical of the week. We just gutsed it out."
Church was full of praise for 20-year-old left-hander Tom Brockelsby, voted player of the tournament after a perfect eight straight wins in his rookie year.
The wins today went to Brockelsby, who was one-under in winning 4 and 2; Church, who made a gimme birdie on the last in his 2-up win; Peter Spearman-Burn 2-up and Ben Campbell 2 and 1. It was a fitting finish for Spearman-Burn, who attempts to move into the paid ranks later this month.
Harbour's win went to Tom Cardno, who made an eagle on the last for a 1-up win on the last hole over James Betts.
Earlier, Harbour defeated rivals Auckland, winning 3-2 in the semifinal.
- NZPA
Golf: Church gets over the line
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