Waahi Taakaro oh so close to Country Clubs triumph
Waahi Taakaro went within a whisker of winning the Country Clubs tournament over the weekend (Nov 7/8) at Greenacres.
Our No 2 team of Keri Kotua, Matt Tomczyk, Jarrod Huss and Andrew Craig agonisingly lost the final on Sunday on countback to the Motueka 2 combo of Andy Tasker, Karl Clark, Mike Inwood and Bernie Hedges.
While Keri and Matt won their match 2-up, Jarrod and Andrew went down 3/2 which – with the outcome decided by combining both scores– was enough to push up down into a still-excellent second place finish.
Keri and Matt had an outstanding tournament, combining brilliantly to be the only unbeaten pair over two intense days of 6-hole matchplay against teams from nine other clubs.
Despite wet and challenging conditions on Saturday that saw round two matches delayed because of waterlogged greens, Waahi Taakaro 2 started strongly to win promotion to the top division. Their impressive form continued into Sunday where they progressed to the final against a strong Motueka team.
The Waahi Taakaro No 1 side of James Campion, Craig Barron, Peter Green and Andy Isle had a tougher time of it, being relegated to the second division after too many opening day losses.
Following another loss, they were in danger of finishing last in the 16-team field which would have – under the rules - cut our representation at next year’s tournament to just one team.
However, after a captain’s pep talk, both pairings responded well to secure important victories to finish 14th to avoid relegation.
Despite that disappointment, it did not diminish the fine efforts of Waahi Taakaro 2 in reaching the final or the stellar performance put in by Keri and Matt. Congratulations to all four team members.
In other results, the Takaka 1 team of Dave Winn, Blue Hancocl, Gareth Rowe and Wayne Rothwell won the plate (division two) final from the Murchison 2 team of Kerry Foley, Scott Taylor, Bradley Thomas and Bob Pugh.