Sloan team still in the doldrums
- 25 May 2021
- Peter Watson
Our Sloan team remains becalmed near the bottom of the points table after it suffered another loss on Sunday (May 23) against Golden Downs at Takaka.
In excellent autumn conditions, our juniors got us off to a good start, with Andrew Craig building on a one-up lead at the turn to coast to a 4/3 win.
No 5 Warwick King was up early before losing three holes on the bounce before clawing his way back with wins at No 7 and No 8 via a chip in. He then halved No 9 with a good par putt to finish the front nine just one down. After trading holes, he scored a birdie two on No 12 to square it up. Another good putt on No 15 and a win on No 17 saw Warwick edge ahead but a misjudged chip proved costly on No 18 as he had to settle for a halved match.
Dave Black led by one at the midway mark but found himself one down going to No 18. Unfortunately, he struggled to keep the ball on the green and succumbed 2 down.
Peter Green – playing at No 3 – found the small and sloping greens difficult to read. One down going into the second nine, he missed a short putt at No 12 to get back to square and then lost three in a row to slump to a 4/3 loss.
Keri Kotua was four down at the turn but knuckled down to cut the deficit to one with a chip in at No 17. He then grabbed an unlikely half with a double bogey when his opponent three-putted the last.
No 1 Andy Isle found himself just one down after nine but lost three holes in quick succession to perish 4/2.
The 6-2 loss means we remain in eighth place, just 2.5 points ahead of cellar dwellers Nelson, who got whitewashed 9-0 by frontrunners Motueka.
In other results, Greenacres surprised reigning champs Totaradale 7-2 and Murchison got the better of Tasman 6.5 to 2.5.
After five rounds Motueka (39.5 points) has opened up a commanding lead on the rest of the field headed by Totaradale (27.5). Next are Greenacres (26.5), Golden Downs (25), Murchison (16), Tasman (15), Takaka (14), Waahi Taakaro (8.5) and Nelson (6).
Our next round is at Greenacres on June 13 against Nelson.