Sloan team ends campaign with a draw

Our Sloan team completed its 2025 campaign with a honorable draw against a high flying Takaka team at Motueka on Sunday (July 20).

The 4.5-4.5 result owed much again to our intermediate players who both won. With Waahi Taakaro hosting the final round in two weeks, the draw leaves us currently fifth while Takaka holds onto third .

Our No 6 Ian Hanford got us off to an ideal start with a thumping 7/6 win against an opponent who had a bad day. Playing steady golf on a course still recovering from the recent deluges, Ian was four up at the turn before ending it early.

His fellow junior Neil McLaren wasn't so fortunate. Despite being two up after nine holes, Neil had a bad stretch mid round to go down by 3/2. While his playing partner putted and chipped well, Neil struggled with his short game.

Bryce Vincent continued his fine Sloan form with a 5/4 victory despite not being at his best in the soft conditions. Three up at the halfway mark, he made up for some wayward driving with some excellent irons into the green to ease to a comfortable win in shooting 87 off the stick.

Playing at No 3, Keri Kotua had to give his rival four shots but made light of that handicap to record a strong 4/3 win while shooting a very handy 82 in the process. Driving and chipping well, Keri built on a two up lead after nine to get the job done with holes to spare.

James Campion endured another frustrating day in going down 4/2 against an opponent who started with a six-shot advantage and didn't make many mistakes. Despite driving well, James - who was two down at the turn - again struggled to hit greens in regulation and to get up and down.

Our No 1 Pete Green also had his problems with chipping in losing 3/2. One down after nine, Pete was solid off the tee and on the green, but he couldn't find a way back against a rival who started with a three-shot cushion and played steadily.

In other results, Golden Downs were made to fight all the way before getting the better of Totaradale 6.5-2.5 in a win that left them firm favourites to win successive titles. Nelson and Tasman battled to a 4.5-4.5 draw, while Greenacres overcame Murchison 7-2.

So with one round to go, Golden Downs leads with 48.5 points with Motueka (44) still within reach. Takaka (42) holds third ahead of Totaradale (33.5). They are followed by Waahi Taakaro (32), Tasman (27.5), Greenacres (24), Nelson (19.5) and Murchison (16).

In the final round, Golden Downs plays Tasman, Motueka takes on Takaka, Greenacres and Totaradale do battle and Nelson and Murchison square off. Waahi Taakaro will play the Tasman juniors who went down to Motueka 5-1 in their latest game.