Dragons are dancing again

IT was nail-biting stuff for three teams on the final day of the 2011 Telikom Pennants at the Port Moresby Golf Club on Sunday.
Starland Dragons led the table but had a bye for the day, leaving the road open for defending champions Freeway Motors and Kumho-Hanjung to make a late charge for the title.
Eight months into the matchplay competition, the Dragons were leading with 60 points, followed by Freeway and Kumho-Hanjung each with 53 points.
The two challengers needed at least a 5.5-1.5 win against their final opponents to sneak past the Dragons by half a point.
A 5-2 win would have led to a four-hole play-off.
Along with the sausages for the barbie, the Dragons also turned up on Sunday morning with their playing shoes in anticipation.
Freeway teed off impressively from the first hole but found the going a little tougher than expected – RH Team were still in form after the previous round’s solid win.
At the turn, with the sun blazing and pressure mounting, five RH players were five up and one square.
Freeway fought back but the RH players held their nerve and romped home 4.5-2.5 for an impressive scalp.
Kumho-Hanjung were cruising towards a comfortable win against MVIL-Mirupasi but ended up with a square to settle for second spot with 57.5 points.
Freeway dropped to third spot with 55.5 points.
So after a nine-year dry spell, the golden lion danced again at the Port Moresby Golf Club.
Starland Dragons did not lose any of their 10 matches in the competition which started in March.
The victory was extra sweet for the Dragons as they were only half a point behind Freeway Motors last year.
Eleven teams took part in the annual matchplay competition and the closing celebration made the day’s round of golf into a 12-hour affair.
MVIL took fourth position, followed by RH (5th), Air Niugini (6th), DHL (7th) More Than Oil (8th), STC/JD Hayes (9th), Ela Motors (10th) and BSP (11th).
Telikom CEO Peter Loko presented the trophies to the champions and runners-up.
He commended all the teams and the club, and confirmed that Telikom would support the competition again next year.