Sloan team finishes sixth

Golden Downs made it a three-peat, while our Sloan team slipped to sixth in the final standings as the Sloan season drew to a close.

Holding a virtually unassailable lead going into the final round at Waahi Taakaro on Sunday (Aug 3), Golden Downs was made to sweat slightly by a gutsy Tasman team before securing a 4.5 to 4.5 draw which saw it take the title by a comfortable 4.5 points.

As one of the smaller clubs, Golden Downs three trophy wins in a row is a remarkable achievement and a testimony to its team spirit and depth and matchplay prowess.

Tasman's performance meant it matched our points total of 32 but claimed fifth on countback after defeating us earlier in the season.

Draws were the order of the day as teams battled for bragging rights in the winter sunshine on a Waahi Taakaro course in excellent condition given the very wet weather recently. Credit is due to greenkeeper James Dale and club volunteers for the work they did to prepare for the competition.

In other matches, Golden Down's two nearest rivals, Motueka and Takaka, could not be separated in battling to a 4.5-4.5 draw, while it was the same story at the other end of the table as Nelson did just enough to consign Murchison to last place in sharing the points. Greenacres grabbed the only win of the day by defeating Totaradale 6.5-2.5. Waahi Taakaro beat the Tasman Juniors 4-0 to complete proceedings, with Pete Green winning 4/3, Keri Kotua 5/4, Bryce Vincent 7/6 and Garth Jameson 2 up.

Final standings saw victors Golden Downs finish on top with 53 points followed by Motueka (48.5) and Takaka (46.5). Next were Totaradale (36), Tasman (32), Waahi Taakaro (32), Greenacres (30.5), Nelson (24) and Murchison (20.5).