Presidents push Taihape to the very end

The Marton Golf Club Presidents Team journeyed north on Saturday to the Rangatira Golf Club for their Quarter-Final matchup with Taihape Golf Club

Both Teams knew this was going to be a battle, and that it was with 5 of the matches being decided on the very last hole with bated breath from the two sides.

Tom & Jayme combined again for just their third outing, up against some seasoned Taihape players but they soon asserted themselves infront being 4up and 3up respectively at the turn. Composure was key from the Taihape gents who managed to turn the matches around once down on the bottom tier of Rangatira, Tom escaping with a 1Up win and Jayme taking a Half but MGC had the 4Ball 4&3.

Adrian & Luke were next off the tee, 'Dunkie' battling against a player who was tapping in Pars all day whereas he couldn't get off the Bogey-train and missing out on a point 6&4. Luke had the upper hand heading down the home stretch but unfortunately let control slip from his grasp with the decider on 18 going in favour of Taihape, the 4Ball also in Taihapes camp.

Ryan & Stu sorted the business of their matches early on in the day, Stu having great desire to get one over on our Taihape rivals and cleaning his match up 4&3. Young Ryan couldn't quite get his game off the ground with an opponent who seemed to have lady luck in his pocket when it came to putts and unfortunately going down 6&4 with the 4Ball also put away to Taihape 4&3

Troy and Aron were now the shining beacons of hope, Marton needing all 3 points from the last grouping with whispers coming through the field that we were in boss seat of the matches. Once we caught up with the boys, AB was dormie Down with Troy on the backfoot after a couple of bad holes and the 4Ball still to play for. In true Marton grit, the pair dug in with AB making birdie at 17 to keep the 4Ball alive. Troy 1 back and the 4Ball 1 back they came down 18 toward the eager group of onlookers behind the putting surface where one last play was in motion. Troy's birdie putt to get a Half from the 4Ball slipped by but fortunately his tap in par was enough to get a Half in his match.

Quarter-Final result 8 - 4 loss to a strong Taihape Team. In the post-match, there was alot of respect shown between the two sides over an ale between the new and older faces which was great to see.

We wish Taihape all the best going forward and thank them for the 2 tough tests this season and we look forward to the next

Captain Stu extends his gratitude to all those involved with the 2023 Presidents Side