Southland has won its first Interprovincial golf title in 61 years, beating six-time champions Bay of Plenty in Gisborne.
Bay of Plenty were looking to win four titles in five years but Southland, who has never played in a final before, won 3 - 2 on a dramatic afternoon in fine conditions at the Poverty Bay Golf Club.
Southland number five Matt Tautari set the tone when he made crucial birdies on the 14th and 15th holes on his way to defeating Craig Hamilton 3 and 1.
Bay of Plenty evened the score when number four Sam Davis defeated Scott Hellier 1 up and when James Hamilton beat Liam Balneaves by the same margin it looked like the Bay were back.
But Southland was in control of the last two matches. Cody Harper made a clutch birdie on the 16th to defeat Landyn Edwards 2 and 1 and then Southland number one Vaughan McCall finished it off in style with a win of the same margin over Brad Kendall.
Southland joins North Harbour and Tasman as one time winners of the event while Bay of Plenty remain in fifth position on the all-time wins list with six behind Waikato (7), Canterbury (9), Auckland (12) and Wellington (13).
