Harry Smith is 2015 School Pupils Matchplay Champion
Harry Smith Pitched a 60 degree wedge to within centimetres of the cup to
birdie the final hole and beat Connor Ross one up and take the Otago schoolboys’ title at Chisholm Links yesterday afternoon.
The final was always going to be close with Ross (St Clair) at No. 8 in the Otago men’s team while Smith (Otago) was one place back as the team reserve for the South Island event last month.
The win completes a double hall of Otago titles for Smith; he won the Otago Age Group Strokeplay title at Balmacewan in March.
Unfortunately Otago will be without the services of Smith in the New Year as he has enrolled for a Golf Management course at the International College of Management in Sydney.
Both students are in year 13 and so it was their last opportunity to take the coveted trophy which has a string of top players engraved on it since its inception in 1967.
Hayden Robertson (Taieri Lakes) birdied the final hole to beat Sam Ballantyne by a margin of two in the plate event.
In the senior final Smith made the early play winning two of the first three holes to take the lead.
Ross birdied the par 3 fourth but Smith won the sixth and seventh with pars to open up a lead of three.
Ross birdied the par 5 eighth and went back to one behind with a birdie 2 on the tenth hole.
He also won the difficult twelfth hole with a par 4 to square the match but he bogeyed the fourteenth to trail once again.
Ross made a par 5 at the long head-wind fifteenth to square the game while Smith left a birdie putt at 16 short of the cup losing the opportunity to regain the lead.
After halving the penultimate hole in pars to outcome came down to the final hole with Smith’s birdie 3 the difference.
The following are the results of the final day of competition in the Otago schoolboys’ match play championship which was played on the Chisholm Links yesterday:
Senior Championship:
Semi-finals: Harry Smith beat Terry Kim 6 and 5, Connor Ross beat Joseph Hancock 5 and 3.
Final: Smith beat Ross one up.
Senior Plate:
Semi-finals: Sam Ballantyne beat Kyle Clark at the 19th, Hayden Robertson beat Zain Pennycook 4 and 3.
Final: Robertson beat Ballantyne two up.
Story ODT
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