Totaradale Golf Club’s top players produced some remarkable comebacks to win the Sloan Trophy for the first time in 18 years when they defeated Nelson 4-2 in the final played at the Tasman Golf Club course at Kina Cliffs.
The Totaradale team celebrated its victory at their clubrooms on Saturday after winning a close final and even tighter semi-final the previous weekend. No1 player Hamish McWhinnie had to win a sudden death play-off in the morning’s semi-final against Motueka to secure Totaradale’s place in the final before Hamish and Steve Cox produced gritty fight backs to help win the afternoon’s final. “We were tied at three-all against Motueka and Hamish had to play a sudden-death hole,” team selector Bill Vercoe says. “He hit a great drive and had it won from there but then we had a real battle in the final too.
“Hamish was four down with six holes to play in the final and still managed to halve his match while Steve was three down with four to play and came back to win his match. It was a very close final.”
Nick McIntyre halved his match in the final, Scott Moffat and Brian Miller won theirs while Peter Mott lost. Although those six players delivered the goods for Totaradale, Bill says Shane Miles, Mark Topia, Murray Newport, Brian Biggs, Mark Douglas, Eric Bradley, Gordon Thomas and Kevin Tippett also produced excellent golf in the eight-game round robin stage of the competition.
“It was an absolute team effort,” Bill says.
Bill says the final finished so late the team didn’t have time to celebrate its victory so they postponed the celebrations to last Saturday.
“After the play-off in the semi, we didn’t get started until two. It was dark when they finished so we just had a few beers at Tasman and went home – we made up for it on Saturday though.”
Bill says Saturday’s celebration was also an opportunity to officially receive the Sloan Trophy after the holders forgot to return it in time for the final.
