25 Oct 2022 | Amateur golf |
Aussie women claim Trans-Tasman title
by Dane Heverin
The Women's Senior Trans-Tasman Cup is in Australian hands for a third successive time with a 9-3 victory, while the New Zealand men claimed a resounding 10-2 win at the Senior Trans-Tasman Team Matches at Tasmania Golf Club.
Australia's women wrestled back the momentum following a Kiwi fightback in the Monday afternoon foursomes matches to prevail in five of Tuesday's six singles contests with team captain Sue Wooster and Carmen Palframan maintaining their undefeated records for the event.
Two-time Australian Senior Amateur champion Jacqui Morgan was impressive in claiming a nail-biting one-up win against Diana Syer in matchup of the number one seeds, while Helen Pascoe and Gemma Dooley also triumphed in the singles.
Wooster, who won her third consecutive Australian Senior Amateur title at Launceston Golf Club last week, was delighted to lead the team to more glory.
"To get the hat-trick is incredibly exciting and I'm very proud to be the captain of the team," Wooster said.
"It's my first time as captain so I was really excited and really honoured. I'm really proud to have led these girls to a win this week. They probably would have done it without me anyway, but it's a real honour to be the captain of an Australian team.
"The girls did an amazing job. We were down in two matches this morning but they all fought back. The week has been fantastic. Playing at the same time as the men has been great, unfortunately they just ran into a stronger opponent, but we've all had a great time."
The New Zealand men were absolutely dominant in only losing one match across both days which came in the Monday afternoon foursomes.
Ian Frost and Brad Dowling earned two half points in the singles for Australia, but the Kiwis were simply too strong.
New Zealand captain Brent Paterson was delighted to capture the Sanctuary Cove Cup and he was full of praise for the positive atmosphere his team had created throughout the tournament.
"It's a lot more enjoyable being in a team and we've got a really good bunch of guys," he said.
"They can all play, no matter where we put them in the order and they're all gritty. They grind away and the Australians were similar.
"There's a lot of friendship and camaraderie on and off the course. This event is like no other in that sense and that's really special. Bringing the women along was fantastic too."
