The 2024 Otago Pennant finals

The 2024 Otago Pennant finals were held at Alexandra and Wanaka Golf Club recently.

Senior B, Intermediates and Junior A were hosted by Wanaka Golf Club, while Senior A, Junior B, Women’s and Presidents were played at Alexandra Golf Club.

Women’s

A new champion was to be crowned in the Women’s division, after last year’s winners Kurow failed to make it to the finals. Waikouaiti and Oamaku couldn’t be separated after 18 holes, finishing at 2.5 each. However Waikouaiti would go through on countback 6-5 thanks to Nicholls and Kelly who both won 3/2. In the other semi-final Taieri Lakes proved too strong for Clinton, beating them 4-1.

Taieri Lakes continued their strong form in the final beating Waikouaiti 3.5-1.5.

Presidents

In the first semi-final Waikouaiti beat Arrowtown 4-2, with Clinton defeating Taieri Lakes in the other 4-2. In the final, Waikouaiti’s Barrett, Vallely, and Smillie all secured big wins. Clinton fought back with Forrester winning 5/3 and Copland 4/2. With Waikouaiti leading 3-2 with the No.1’s to come in, all they needed was a half and it came from Gary Hancock finishing all square with Bennett securing the title for Waikouaiti 3.5-2.5.

Junior B

Tokarahi beat Wanaka in a tight match 2.5-1.5. Heriot and Port Chalmers couldn’t be split but thanks to Ashton’s 5/4 win, Heriot went through on count back. Heriot’s Ashton was first to strike in the final with a 4/3 win, but Tokarahi’s Ballantyne and Murray won their matches 4/2 and 4/3 respectively, with Keown securing the deal on the last 1 up to take Tokarahi to a 3-1 win.

Junior A

It was all tied up in both semi-finals for the Junior A teams. Roxburgh couldn’t be separated from Tokarahi but thanks to Malcolm and Conlan’s 2/1 wins they would go through on countback. Clinton would beat Gladfield on countback thanks to the Holland brothers who won their matches 5/4 and 3/2. Clinton wasn’t taking any chances in the final with all four members winning their matches leading to a four-nil victory.

Intermediate

Cromwell and Tokarahi were all tied up after 18 holes but thanks to Jillings 7/5 win, Cromwell went through on count back. St Clair came out of the gates fast and beat Balclutha 4-0 in their semi-final. In the final it was Cromwell to draw first blood, winning the first 2 matches, however, St Clair quickly responded when their 1 and 2 both won their matches 6/5 and 6/4 respectively. St Clair would go on to win on count back 12-6.

Senior B

North Otago dealt to Arrowtown beating them 3-1. While the other semi-final went the distance between Taieri Lakes and Balclutha. Taieri Lakes went through on countback 8-6 thanks to Haig’s 5/3 win. Taieri Lakes weren’t going to rely on countback in the final with the family duo of Josh and Ian Boath both winning 4/3. Haig won his 2nd game of the day 5/4 before Mitchell add the icing to the cake with a 4/3 win securing the title for Taieri Lakes. Final result Taieri Lakes 4 North Otago 0.

Senior A

It would be a new team to win the Senior A title this year after the previous winners’ Otago failed to make it to the final. A triangular format would mean that all 3 teams would be required to play two rounds. It was relatively tight for the morning matches, Queenstown held a 2-1 lead over St Clair with Bruce Grant and Sam Davis securing strong wins for the team. Logan Clarke came back from being down early to winning his match 2/1 keeping St Clair’s hopes alive. It was all tied up between Queenstown and North Otago at 1.5-1.5 with Steven Jensen and Gray Creedy going the distance. St Clair held a strong 3-0 lead over North Otago with McMullan, Bleach, and Aluesi’ securing wins.

With all to play for in the afternoon, it was St Clair who put the foot down. The winning trio of McMullan, Bleach, and Aluesi’ continued their form from the morning, all securing their 2nd point of the day against Queenstown taking their total to a 4-2 win. North Otago’s hopes were kept alive when Richard Knight beat St Clair’s Logan Clarke on the 18th Green, but it was all over when Tony Giles and Connor Howes secured wins on the 17th to take St Clair’s total to 5-1 over North Otago. Queenstown proved too strong for North Otago, Bruce Grant secured his 2nd point of the day beating Lachie Coutts 1 up, Sam Davis and Stephen Waby couldn’t be split and James Sowerby beat Wayne Todd 5/3. Final score Queenstown 4 North Otago 2.

St Clair breaks their 8-year draught taking the Senior A title for the first time since 2016. Queenstown finished in 2nd place followed by North Otago in 3rd.