Golf: Last-hole win for Waikato women

Waikato-King Country came from behind to pip North Harbour 3-2 and win the Honda Cup women's interprovincial golf title at the St Clair course in Dunedin.

The star for Waikato-King Country was No 2 Robyn Pellow, who came from four down with seven holes remaining to beat 16-year-old Natalie Storck on the final hole.

Earlier, Shannon Pawhau and Sarah McDonald gave Waikato-King Country a flying start with wins over Chanelle Baird, 1 up, and Annie Wairepo, 4 and 2, respectively.

McDonald and Wairepo featured in a remarkable match, without one halved hole in their rollercoaster clash.

Harbour fought back with Carolyn Dobbyn grabbing a 5 and 4 win over Wiki Shailer.

Harbour No 1 Anita Boon finished one-under to defeat Waikato's Jan Storey 1 up in a match of high quality.

Storey made two early birdies to grab a two-hole advantage, before Boon won four holes in a row.

By the 16th, Storey had levelled the match. But Boon collected a birdie on the 17th for a one-hole advantage which she protected with a par at the last.

The crucial clash came at No 2 where Pellow rose from the dead.

Experience proved the main factor for Pellow, who levelled the match at the 17th and took full advantage when Storck, a Titleist junior academy player, hit her drive on the last into a hazard and was forced to take a one-shot penalty.

It was Waikato-King Country's second victory in the Honda Cup. The first came 27 years ago.

"It's been a mighty long time coming," Storey said.

"I've been trying for 16 years and thought it was never going to happen."

"I know it's a cliche, but we got there with a total team performance. At times everyone has had to stand up when it counted, and we received such good management support, too."

Harbour could be well satisfied with their performance, climbing from 11th last year to runners-up, with three 16-year-olds in their lineup.

They will look forward to next year's tournament on home turf.

Two players were unbeaten in section play - Harbour's Baird and Manawatu-Wanganui's Janie Field.

- NZPA