Golf: Harbour, Canty a cut above the rest

The semifinalists have nearly been confirmed, even though three rounds of section play remain over the next two days in the New Zealand women's interprovincial team tournament at Russley Golf Club in Christchurch.

In section one, defending champions North Harbour and home team Canterbury have won their three matches impressively, Harbour dropping 1 1/2 individual games from 15 and Canterbury two.

In section two, 2004 titleholders Bay of Plenty, beaten semifinalists last year, Auckland and Northland have won three from three and opened a gap on the other four teams in their group. The top three teams have all won the same number of individual games.

Northland, seventh last year and with a mainly youthful team, have performed well but today face an imposing double-header, playing Bay of Plenty in the morning and Auckland in the afternoon.

The crucial fourth-round game yesterday was Canterbury against Wellington whose only loss had been against the section's top seeds, North Harbour.

Canterbury's middle-order made a grand start, with No 2 Monica Tulisi birdieing the first two holes and Rachel Thow and Dana Kim establishing handy leads, and the home team never looked back.

Canterbury newcomer at No 5, Sara Beaumont, was one down in the bottom singles at the turn against Kawhena Rangihaeata but recovered to win at the 17th to keep her perfect record.

Wellington No 1, international Sarah Nicholson, kept her unbeaten record with a 6 and 5 win over Naomi Wallace and was happy with her game and especially with her driver.

She drove the first green (277m) against Wallace but missed the 3m eagle putt. She had been one under par when beating Emily Perry (Waikato) 7 and 6 in the third round and was even par when dispatching Wallace.

However, the round of the day belonged to Otago No 3 Amber Boyce, who was ruthless in her 9 and 7 win against Auckland's Kristin Farrell. Boyce birdied the first, second, fourth, sixth and seventh holes and turned in five-under 32. Pars at 10 and 11 settled the short contest.

Another player to have a memorable day was Taranaki's Debbie McCallum, who played her 100th match. The No 2 celebrated it with a 7 and 6 win over Otago's Liz McRae.

Most results were very one-sided yesterday with six contests being won 4-1 or better but there are some appealing match-ups today with Canterbury against Waikato in the morning then North Harbour in the afternoon.

- NZPA