Two heavyweight contests will determine the destination of the Australian Boys’ Interstate Series title tomorrow morning.
After a third morning full of upsets was followed by an afternoon of more predictable results today, any of Victoria, Western Australia or Queensland could still win the trophy.
Only contests won separates the three contenders with Victoria, clear of WA by one, to face third-placed Queensland in the title-defining match.
But the young Sandgropers won’t have it easy, either, with a final-round match-up against host New South Wales at Riverside Oaks in north-western Sydney.
The Blues, uncustomarily shaky on days one and two, put the record straight with two big wins on day three, taking down old foes Queensland 4-1 in the morning before trouncing Tasmania by the same score in the afternoon.
But the hosts cannot defend the title they shared with South Australia last year with at least one of Victoria or Queensland guaranteed to finish ahead of the Blues.
The Vics had a chance to push themselves to the brink of the trophy with two rounds to play, but the plucky West Australians ensured that wouldn’t be the case with a fighting victory in their morning clash.
The match wasn’t determined until the final hole in the top pairing with Perth’s Fred Lee beating newly crowned Australian Junior champion Cameron John 1-up to give WA a thrilling 3-2 victory.
Lee was 1-up going down their last hole, the driveable 11th, and both drove near the green. And in the heat of the battle, both could only manage a chip and two putts to leave the West Australian triumphant.
At the same time, the giant-killing ACT team gave themselves a mathematical shot at the crown with their third impressive victory, this time over SA.
But their hopes were officially snuffed by the resurgent Victorians in the afternoon, going down 4.5-0.5 to fade to fifth on the table after NSW beat Tasmania 4-1.
WA ground down SA 4.5-0.5 in their afternoon stoush, while Queensland lost potentially crucial ground in third after being pushed all the way (3-2) by an improving Northern Territory, which had impressive wins by Nathan Gee and Max Miraglia.