Canterbury’s representative sides made the trip to Ashburton Golf Club on Sunday 13 September for the annual interprovincial fixture against Aorangi, and it proved a successful day out for the red and black, taking out three of the four grades on offer. The Senior Men, Women and Masters Men all posted comfortable wins, while a spirited Aorangi combination edged out our Under 19 Boys in a tight finish on tee 7.
Senior Men: Canterbury 16 – Aorangi 4
The Senior Men, playing off tee 1, set the tone for the day with a dominant display, winning the reverse singles 8½–1½ before backing it up with a 7½–2½ singles session in the afternoon.
David Zohrab halved a tight top match with Rodney Van Steenis in the morning before closing out the day with a 4&3 win over Garth Leslie. Cooper Moore was in outstanding form, following up a 5&4 morning win over Aimen Amerul with an emphatic 8&7 victory in the afternoon. Etienne Collier, Thomas Clayson and Yuki Miya were among several Canterbury players to record wins in both sessions.
It was also a strong day for the newcomers, with Nash De Klerk, Shane Whooley, Ricky Kang, and senior debutants Etienne Collier and Thomas Clayson all making their first appearances for Canterbury. De Klerk was particularly impressive, winning 7&5 in the morning and 4&3 in the afternoon, while Kang backed up a 1up win with a comfortable 7&6 in the afternoon.
Women: Canterbury 13½ – Aorangi 2½
The Women’s team were untouchable in the morning, sweeping the reverse singles 8–0, and continued to dominate in the afternoon with a 5½–2½ singles session for a commanding overall win.
Under the conditions of play, the number 7 and 8 positions were required to play off strokes given. This meant our players in those two positions gave up 11 shots in the morning round and a similar number again in the afternoon — a significant ask against players receiving that much of a start. Despite that, Nutcha Sirawattanakul at number 7 won both her matches (1up, then 3&2), a great effort given the shots on offer to her opponent. Eva Yin at number 8 won her morning match 2up before falling 4&3 in the afternoon once the stroke allowance came into play.
Elsewhere in the order, Vanessa Lim and Maddie May both won in both sessions, and Alice Fry produced the result of the day for Canterbury, backing up a 4&3 morning win with a 9&7 demolition of Jennifer Shepherd in the afternoon.
Three players made their Canterbury debuts in the Women’s side: Nutcha Sirawattanakul, Sally Rossiter and Subin Bae — Rossiter winning both her matches (2up, 3&2) and Bae winning in the morning before halving her afternoon match.
Masters Men: Canterbury 14 – Aorangi 6
The Masters Men made it three from three for Canterbury, winning the reverse singles 7½–2½ and the singles 6½–3½.
Aaron Forsyth and James Howard were among the standout performers, both winning comfortably in both sessions, while Mike Toeke and Riki Borrell also collected full points across the day. Leon Yee had a tougher time of it, halving in the morning before going down 1up in the afternoon, and there were positive signs from Phil Stephens and Phil Bungard, who each collected a half point after difficult opening matches.
Four Masters debutants featured for Canterbury: Phil Stephens, Tony Boon, Phil Bungard, and Scott Manyweathers, who was making his Masters debut for the side. Boon enjoyed the ideal start to representative golf, winning both of his matches (2up, 3&2).
Under 19 Boys: Canterbury 3½ – Aorangi 4½
The one grade to go the way of the visitors was the Under 19 Boys, playing off tee 7, where Aorangi got home in a tight tussle that could easily have gone the other way.
Under the conditions of play, if the handicap gap between the pairings exceeds the three-shot threshold shots would be required to be given, accordingly most of the Canterbury boys were giving up shots, and the impact was felt on several results throughout the day. Austin Wills was the standout performer in the morning, winning 3&2, but a heavily-weighted afternoon match went the other way 7&6 as the stroke allowance told against him. Seiji Dimitrov was the reverse story, going down 1up in the morning before fighting back for a strong 5&4 win in the afternoon. Ryan Mordaunt and Jack Ferguson also had their moments, with Mordaunt winning his morning match 2up before a narrow 2&1 defeat in the afternoon, and Ferguson halving the final match of the day after a tight 1up loss in the morning.
It was a big day for the future of the programme, with all four Canterbury representatives — Austin Wills, Seiji Dimitrov, Ryan Mordaunt and Jack Ferguson — making their Canterbury debuts. Plenty for this group to build on ahead of future representative honours.
For the full results – CLICK HERE. For the full Photo Album of the day – CLICK HERE.
Thanks to Ashburton Golf Club and Aorangi Golf for hosting a well-run day of golf, and to all players, officials and supporters who made the trip. A great result overall for Canterbury, with plenty of new representatives blooded across all four grades ahead of what looks to be an exciting season to come.
