Club champ finalists found

All but one of the eight finalists for next week's NBS club champs showdown have been found.

Three semi-finals were played on a drizzly Saturday (Nov 12) while another was held earlier in the week.

Junior B top seed Warwick King survived a scare from a dogged Barry Rhodes before winning one-up at the last. Both men played some excellent golf - Warwick recorded a net 70 off the blue tees and Barry a net 67 - during a match where neither led by more than a hole.

After Warwick took the first, Barry edged ahead after winning No 3 and No 5 before Warwick squared it up at the No 9. Warwick won No 11 with a par to go back in front and after four halved holes Barry produced a par at No 16 to even it up. 

They squared No 17 with bogies so it was all to play for going down the last. Warwick got up and down for a super par to secure victory, while Barry could only manage a double bogey.

Warwick will play Grant Fergusson in the final after he defeated Mick Leggett 4/3 in a mid-week match. Grant - who went round in a solid net 71 - made a fast start, winning the first three holes before Mick pegged the deficit back to one only for Grant to win another couple to be three up at the turn. While Mick won No 10, Grant was not to be denied and he closed it out by winning No 13 and No 14 and squaring the next.

In the junior A final top qualifier Phil Sellers will play the second seed Mike Murphy after Mike saw off Bryan Ramsey 4/2. Bryan started well by winning their opening hole before Mike won three on the trot. However, Bryan had got it back to just one down at the halfway mark. However, Mike - who played soundly for a net 68 - took a firm grip of the match by winning No 11 and 12. They traded holes before Mike ended it at No 16 with a bogey.

With the Intermediate clash between Richard Pearson and Paul Tunnicliff postponed to give Richard more time to recover from a knee injury, the focus shifted to the semi between Geoff Halkett and Aaron Kotua. With Geoff scorching around the front nine in a one-over 37, the match was virtually over by the time they turned for home with Geoff six up. Aaron lasted three more holes before surrendering 7/6 against an in-form opponent who warmed up for the final with an impressive net 70.

With the senior semi-finals done and dusted some time ago, the final will be between Pete Green and Peter Watson.

All but the Junior B final will be held over 36 holes with tee-off at 8.30am next Saturday (Nov 19). The Junior B final of 18 holes will tee off at 11am.

In the match of the day which also counted towards the Barkman Trophy and Shootout, Barry Rhodes took the honours from Mick Leggett on countback after both finished with net 67.They were followed by Mike Murphy (68), Paul Tunnicliff (69)  and the pair of Warwick King  and Geoff Halkett (70 each). Peter Watson grabbed the last point with a 74.