Golf: Youngster pulls out winner in blink of an eye

By BOB PEARCE in Christchurch

Terry Hong blinked his way through four days of the national interprovincial championships as the Canterbury pollen played havoc with his eyes.

But on the eve of the semifinals, Bay of Plenty manager Jack Carter made a trip to a Christchurch pharmacy and the drops he found paid dividends on Saturday.

The 18-year-old played the crucial game against Mark Boe from Waikato in the final.

The pair had met in section play and Hong, with his eyes watering, had stumbled to a 2 and 1 defeat. In the final he came to the 18th one up, rifled an eight iron to the centre of the green and halved the hole to preserve his win and his team's 3-2 victory.

"I had yesterday in my mind all the time," Hong said.

"But the important thing was my manager getting me some eye-drops so that I could see properly."

Bay of Plenty, the defending champions, had two decisive wins in the final from Jason McIntosh over James Gill and from Jae An, who was five under beating Mathew Holten.

Waikato's Brad Shilton beat Bay's charismatic captain, Mark Smith, 3 and 2 and Mark Purser completed his perfect record for the tournament, beating the Bay No 4, George Kinghorn, 2 and 1.

Purser was desperately unlucky not to be named player of the tournament. The that honour went to An.

Both were rewarded when they were named in an eight-man squad to prepare for the 2004 Eisenhower tournament.

The others in the squad are Auckland teenager Kevin Chun, Doug Holloway (Hawkes Bay), Matt Holten (Waikato), Brad Iles (Wellington), Ricki Kauika (Manawatu-Wanganui) and Mark Smith (Bay of Plenty).

The final team will not necessarily be chosen from the squad.

Smith believes all but Kinghorn are likely to return for next year's event, which will be held at in Napier.

"I think the standard this year was better than when we won last year," he said.

"We weren't favourites so it feels pretty good to win again."

The heroes of the semifinals were the No 5s from Waikato and Bay of Plenty, who delivered wins against the odds when they most mattered.

Gill was four down after nine holes against the experienced David Rattray of Canterbury, then won six of the next seven holes for a 2 and 1 victory. Purser won easily, Shilton comfortably and Holten halved with Brad Stuart for a 3 - 1 result.

Bay of Plenty found Manawatu-Wanganui tougher opponents than many had predicted and they were grateful for a gutsy performance by McIntosh at No 5.

He trailed Hamish Robertson for 16 holes before winning the 17th with a birdie. He won the last with a par to take the lead for the first time.

Bay's other winners were Hong and Smith, but Kinghorn and An went down on the last green, with An losing his perfect record.

Auckland improved from seventh to sixth this tournament, but were disappointed by the consistency of some of their younger players. Richard Hislop was outstanding with six wins at No 3.

North Harbour had few expectations after losing all but one of their second-placed team from last year.

They started nervously but finished strongly with an outstanding win against Otago, and ninth place was no disgrace.

Eighteen-year-old Ben Jujnovich made a fine debut at this level with four wins and two halves at No 3.

Northland finished 12th. Alex Tait's victory over New Zealand representative Brad Iles was a highlight of the first day, but they had to wait until their last game for a team win.

Perennial cellar-dwellers Poverty Bay climbed above Southland in the final rankings thanks to a last-day half with Aorangi.