NSW in cruise control at Interstate Teams

BY iseekgolf.com | Australian Mens Amateur Tour | 2007 Australian Interstate Teams Matches | Round Two | 18 Sep 2007

New South Wales continued its quest for a third straight Interstate Teams Matches title with a win over host state Tasmania. After surprising Western Australia with a draw yesterday, Tasmania was unable to hold off the tournament favourites, going down by four points.

The defending champs got off to the best possible start, taking a three-point lead into the afternoon session. Although the scoreboard may not suggest a battle was fought, New South Wales was forced to earn every single point. The highly fancied pairing of Tim Stewart and Richie Gallichan were held to a square by Jack Carswell and Adam Ring while Justin Roach and Grant Scott prevailed over their opponents 2&1.

Scott and Jamie Arnold defeated John Cassidy and Craig Hancock 1up while the pairing of Rohan Blizard and Rudi Bezuidenhout sneaked home by the same margin over James Pyke and Mark Schulz.

Australian Amateur Champion Blizard made up for his singles defeat yesterday with a 3&2 triumph over Craig Hancock while Ryan McCarthy and Paul Marshall managed to add a couple more points to the board for Tasmania. Still, it was in vain for the hosts who went down by four.

Queensland maintained the pressure on New South Wales at the top after a hard fought win over Western Australia.

In what was looming as one of the most balanced matched of the series on paper, Queensland edged ahead by a point after the morning foursomes which included a pulsating square played out between Ray Beaufils and Andrew Dodt and Rick Kulacz and Michael Foster.

These four players locked horns once again in the singles and it was Queensland that came out ahead. Dodt scored a 4&3 win over National Squad team mate Kulacz while Beaufils defeated Foster by the same margin.

Rika Batibasaga defeated Scott Hunter 3&2, giving Queensland victories in the final three contests of the day which is what ultimately gave them the win. Earlier, Brenton Haines and Michael Dennis had scored wins for Western Australia to give them the edge but it wasn’t to be.

Victoria and South Australia played out arguably the contest of the day with an exciting square. The Vics snatched a 3-1 lead going into the singles but an inspired comeback from South Australia saw them deny their Victorian rivals a victory.

Daniel Beckmann and Matthew Griffin both produced wins for Victoria to seemingly put them on track, but Jordan Sherratt overcame Ashley Umbers 1up and Peter Cooke defeated Josh Younger 4&3 to give their state a share of the spoils.

It was Cooke’s second high profile scalp of the week after beating Australian Amateur Champion Rohan Blizard on Monday, firmly stamping his credentials for player of the Series, even at this early stage.

New South Wales also continued their solid form in the Colts Interstate Teams Matches. A convincing five-point victory over hosts Tasmania has sat them clear on top of the overall leaderboard with a two contest point buffer over four teams who are sitting on one win each.

Matthew Giles was again a standout performer winning his singles 3&2 while successfully combining with Rhys McGovern for an overwhelming 5&4 win over Kalem Richardson and Richard Kube.

Western Australia reversed their fortunes in a matter of 24-hours, moving into second place on the table. After a shock loss to the hosts on day one, Western Australia recomposed and ruthlessly dispatched of Queensland 6-2.

James Carr and Correy Price claimed the only point that came out of the foursomes matches before their team mates went on a riot in the singles, claiming four of the five matches to shut the door on the Maroons.

South Australia made up for yesterday’s loss to New South Wales with a win over rivals and defending champions Victoria. The scene was set for a tough afternoon battle after the morning foursomes finished square and it was South Australia who capitalised with wins to John Corbett and Adrian Wickstein in the final two matches of the day.

Daniel Popovic was the sole survivor for the Vics in the singles, but the overall loss has left them winless after two contests, rooted to the bottom of the table and all but out of the title race.

Source – Golf Australia