An amazing end to another big week on the national stage for Canterbury Golf. The Flexi Lease Canterbury Women's Team were at their best throughout the week with dominant wins against Taranaki, Waikato, Tasman, Northland and Manawatu-Whanganui in the round-robin play.
The team are pictured from left Steve Campbell (Manager), Amy Weng, Olive Tapu, Hillary O'Connor, Maddie May, Catherine Bell, Momoka Kobori, Kara Campbell (Assistant Manager).
"The team worked so hard in the semi-final against Bay of Plenty, they such a great side", said Canterbury Women's Captain Hillary O'Connor. "We've stuck to our same processes every day and today was no different".
Bay of Plenty got off to a slight lead through 5 holes but through 9 holes Canterbury had rallied to bring this back.
"It was so tight down the closing stretch. I knew I needed to hole my putt on 17 to keep the goal of the final alive". said O'Connor who holed two 10 footers on 17 and 18 to get the team to 2.5 points along with a win and half from Maddie May and Catherine Bell. It then came down to Canterbury number one Momoka Kobori who won the 18th hole for the team to progress to its fourth final in the past six years.
It was a quick turnaround for the Canterbury Team who played in the second semi-final.
"It was tough, there were only about 10 minutes for the team to regroup and prepare for the final against Auckland," said O'Connor. "We gave it everything we had, Auckland played amazing, they are such a tough team to beat".
"We loved having some extra support with family and friends on the golf course this week in Auckland, and the golfing community in Canterbury sending messages of support, this makes a big difference when you're playing so far away from home".
"The course set up at Akarana was tough, one of the hardest I've played on, it was playing long with very undulating fairways and quick greens. It took a bit to adjust to," continued O'Connor.
"The team had such a great week and worked hard in the buildup to implement strong processes that they stuck to throughout the tournament," said Canterbury Golf Development Manager Rachel Thow. "The team was really well supported by Steve and Kara Campbell who complimented one another to provide the experience and leadership the team throughout the event and buildup.
This caps off a tremendous two weeks at the NZ Women's and Men's Interprovincials for Canterbury. A big thank you to the volunteers that support our representative programme including both managers and selectors.
