The Ryder Cup remains ours!

The Ryder Cup will spend another year in our trophy cabinet after our team overcame the odds to notch a sixth win from seven encounters on Sunday (Dec 6).

With the 27-hole tie across three formats switched from Waahi Taakaro to Nelson because of the poor state of our greens and with a limited pool of players to choose from, Waahi Taakaro again showed plenty of teamwork and ticker to get the job done by a 15 points to 9 margin against a tough Nelson team.

It helped that many of our team had got a taste of Nelson's fast greens and sea breezes the week before at the Maitai Masters, but our players were still able to adapt to the very different conditions from those they usually face up the Maitai Valley.

It was very close early on before the wind got up, with Waahi Taakaro just ahead after winning the alternate stroke matches by three games to two. The same pairings then battled it over the second nine holes in the four ball best ball format and shared the honours, with each team winning two, losing two and halving two games. 

With Waahi Taakaro ahead by just 7-5, the players had a brief break before returning to the front nine for the individual matchplay. After an even start, we edged ahead thanks to some strong results from our juniors and intermediates before our two top seniors, Dean Goodman and Keri Kotua, secured the trophy with late wins.

While all but one of our 12 team members contributed at least one win, Richard Pearson and Maurice Woodhouse led the scorers with two wins and a half. Others with two wins were Dean Goodman, Keri Kotua, Peter Green, Aaron Kotua and Bryan Ramsey.

The cup win again demonstrates our club's knack of punching above our weight and strong team spirit. Congratulations guys on a mighty effort.

Our thanks goes to Euan Milne, Tony Watkins and the Nelson team for their keen competition, camaraderie and hospitality.  

We look forward to hosting the 2021 tie at Waahi Taakaro.