Golf: Harbour a class above

North Harbour is the youngest provincial golf association in New Zealand. After yesterday's events at Titirangi, it's unquestionably now the competitive powerhouse in the country as well. The team of Dean Sipson, Steven Han, Ben Jujnovich, Scott Johnson, and Joon Sang Chung beat Waikato 4-1 to claim North Harbour's first National Men's Interprovincial title.

The trophy will sit alongside that for the National Women's Interprovincial, won at Ngaruawahia in October, and the Freyberg Masters interprovincial, for players aged 40 and over, secured at Muriwai earlier this month.

North Harbour started the week unconvincingly with a 2-3 loss to Wellington. But the team didn't lose again and beat the powerful Waikato line-up twice in two days, as well as three-time defending champion Bay of Plenty in the semifinal, to win Harbour's first Interprovincial since the association's formation in 1994.

In bitterly cold conditions at Titirangi yesterday, Harbour's strength in the final was in the top order. Sipson celebrated his first selection for a New Zealand amateur team with a display of wonderful ball striking and disposed of another New Zealand player, Mark Purser, 5&4.

Han defeated another national representative, James Gill, 1 up. Jujnovich, a replacement in the team for Samuel Shin, pummelled yet another New Zealand team player, Richard Wright, 5&4.

But the point that gave North Harbour the win came from Scott Johnson, who defeated Brendan Seidel, also 1 up.

Waikato's only win in the final came from Jim Cusdin. He beat Chung on the 18th.

- HERALD ON SUNDAY