New South Wales leads Interstate Series

BY iseekgolf.com | Australian Mens Amateur Tour | 2007 Australian Interstate Teams Matches | Round Four | 20 Sep 2007

Rohan Blizard

(Photo: Anthony Powter)

New South Wales has taken another step toward a third straight Interstate Series with a comprehensive win over Western Australia, while Queensland stumbled against South Australia at Launceston Golf Club.

The scene was set for a final day showdown in a ‘winner takes all’ clash, but the surprise win by South Australia has piled all of the pressure upon Queensland to win on Friday by at least four matches.

The teams started evenly and split the morning foursomes, however South Australia stepped it up a gear in the singles, taking five of the seven matches to run over the top of their opponents.

Chris Austin started the run with a 3&2 win over Matthew McBain and the writing was clearly on the wall for the Maroons when Brett Rankin, Ray Beaufils and Blake McGrory all lost their matches. Jordan Sherratt sealed the deal for South Australia when he beat Rika Batibasaga 3&2 which left Andrew Dodt’s 1 up win over Peter Cooke in vain.

New South Wales continued their solid form with a 9-2 victory over Western Australia. The defending champs took a 3-1 lead out of the foursomes and continued the rout in the afternoon.

Michael Dennis was the sole victor for Western Australia as Richie Gallichan, Grant Scott, Tim Stewart and Australian Amateur Champion Rohan Blizard all tasted success to edge their state closer to the title.

Victoria suffered another defeat, this time at the hands of host state Tasmania, who have strung together a superb week. The hosts got off to the best possible start, winning three of the morning foursomes matches. Mark Schulze and John Cassidy then kicked off the singles matches with wins as Craig Hancock scored a 1 up victory over Josh Younger to guarantee his state victory.

Matthew Griffin showed positive signs for the Victorians when he recorded another victory, but it wasn’t enough as Victoria slipped to last position on the table at the hands of the Series’ surprise package.

New South Wales is also in the box seat to claim the Colts Teams Matches, despite losing to Western Australia today. The favourites could have all but sealed the title today with a win, but didn’t count on the tenacity of Western Australia.

The three-point margin leaves New South Wales on top by half a point, but trailing in the match score count by one and a half. This means that they will need to beat Queensland on Friday in order to control their destiny, otherwise it will come down to whether Western Australia or South Australia can defy the odds and come from behind.