Men’s Pennant competition reached the half-way stage on Sunday. In each division the teams play in 2 pools – home and away – and then the top 2 from each pool play semi-finals. The winners then progress to the final.
The Bissett Shield team defeated Akarana at home 5-3. Once again, the lower half of the order was instrumental in our victory. Wins to Rakesh Patel (5/4), Tomas Shaw (6/4) and Bailey Smith (3/2) got us off to good start. They were joined by Matthew Cormack (6/5) and Robbie Turnbull (6/4) at the top of the order to complete the 5-3 victory. RAGGC beat Pakuranga at home 6.5-1.5 to push them above us to the top of the table, but it is very much a 3-way race for the semis between ourselves, RAGGC and Akarana. The team play Akarana again this weekend at Akarana – a vital match for sure!
The Championship 1 team was also at home against Windross Farm, and we were expecting a much tougher game than last week at Maungakiekie. It didn’t turn out that way! No match went further than the 16th green, which was Roger Hudson’s 4/2 win at No.1. Logan Driver (7/5), Eamon Wairepo (6/5), Karl Jorgensen & Jaime Lansi (7/6), and then Andrew Meng (5/4) and Andrew Hipkiss (6/5) completed a true 8-0 rout. At this point we hold a 9pt lead over the second placed team. This Sunday they go to Windross Farm for a re-match on their own course. We should expect they will be looking for some measure of revenge!
Championship 2 were out at Whitford Park where they were soundly beaten 2-6 by the home team. The only winners were Max Clarke and Brett Geyer, who both came back from behind to win 1up. This leaves the team 6.5pts behind with only 3 matches to go to make up the difference and win a spot in the semi-final. Up against Pakuranga this Sunday at home is just the place to start making their run.
Inter Club 2 travelled to Pakuranga and lost 2.5-5.5. The winners were David Evans (3/2) and Grant Harford (6/5), and the half came from Darren Soo. On 13pts they are now 5pts behind Pakuranga,but are still tied for 2nd with Maramarua, and in with a chance of a semi-final slot with some good results in the coming weeks.
Inter Club 3 were at Pukekohe and after a loss to Titirangi last week,they were also looking for a turnaround. Good wins by Mike Hyams (4/3) and Erik Jorgensen (2/1) were good starts at the bottom of the order. Chris Hanley (5/4) added to this and when Dean Palmer (2Up) and David Annan (1Up) came in, they had secured a well-earned 5-3 win.This division is the tightest in the competition. Titirangi (our opponents this week) are 2pts clear of the other 3 teams – Titirangi 13.5; Remuera, Whitford Park and Pukekohe all on 11.5.