Teamwork key to another Ryder Cup win

We are the Ryder Cup champions for the fifth time in six years thanks to a great team effort.

Every pairing contributed vital points in our hard fought 14 1/2 to 9 1/2 win over Nelson on Sunday (Dec 9) in the 27-hole challenge played over three different formats.

Played in hot conditions at Nelson on fast but flat greens, we dominated the morning best ball and alternate shot matches to set up our second away win.

We took out the best ball matches 5-1 and extended our lead by taking the alternate shot ties 3 1/2 to 2 1/2. The afternoon individual match play contests were shared 6-all as the breeze got up.

There were a number of Waahi Taakaro heroes. Among the seniors, Keri Kotua putted superbly in the morning to earn his team two straight wins, while Rob Willems and Richard Pearson won three of their four matches, with Richard coming back from three down after three holes in his individual match play to win on the last hole.

Both our intermediate pairings - Bryce Vincent and Maurice Woodhouse and Paul Tunnicliff and Elton Netto - scored three out of four points, with Bryce in particular in outstanding form, while Paul and Elton remained unbeaten during the day.

Our juniors also contributed, with Warwick King and Paul Suan sharing the points,  with Paul claiming a good win in the individual match play. Steve Russell and Geoff Halkett also had their moments.

We celebrated well at the Speights Alehouse afterwards and look forward to getting the cup engraved with the Waahi Taakaro name again, proving that size isn't everything and small can be beautiful.

Well done guys.

ends