Golf: Brake 'obvious choice' as No1 for Bay team | Rotorua Sport | Surfing, Rugby, Soccer, Football, Cricket in Rotorua

She didn't front in all the trials but former international Zoe Brake was too good to leave out of the Bay of Plenty team for December's women's golf interprovincial on her home course at Whakatane.

Brake has been given leave from the Navy, where she's been for a year and is now a qualified hydrographics surveyor, and was the obvious pick at No 1 for the host province, selector Pip Kendall said.

She is joined in the five-strong lineup by Rotana Howard, Susan Lines, Grace Senior and Tyla Kingi, although there's a cloud over Howard's selection after she suffered a knee injury on the netball court.

Kendall said Brake's availability for the first time in two years at a national interprovincial was a bonus, especially with the tournament being played on the course where she learned the game.

"Her [Navy] commitments meant she didn't make it to all our trials but Zoe did play in the Bay Open (at Whakatane, where she finished second to Chantelle Cassidy) and to some of our camp days," Kendall said.

"Zoe adds heaps, clearly she's still got the No 1 game among our girls, although there's a few of the finer points around accuracy with chipping and putting that need work, simply because she hasn't been playing much."

Kendall said the question would be how Brake's game stacked up against the country's other No 1 players, including internationals Emily Perry (Waikato), Lydia Ko (North Harbour) and Cecilia Cho (Auckland).

"She was part of the national academy with those girls a year or two back but has gone off and got a career, so good on her. There's no one else that's consistently up there so she was the obvious choice at No 1."

Senior and Howard are both part of Waiariki Institute of Technology's golf academy while Lines was a tidy matchplay golfer who had performed well in the trials, Kendall said.

Pint-sized Kingi is still only 12 but the two handicapper had looked like a future Bay senior rep for several years. She will be the youngest player to represent the province at the highest level.

"Tyla's matured a lot in the last year and this has really been the first year she's been playing more women's open tournaments rather than juniors. It'll be a big step up for her and Grace but both have improved remarkably."

Seasoned campaigner Heather Lavery was picked as reserve but turned down the spot, with masters rep Shelley McElroy added instead.

Bay of Plenty women: Zoe Brake, Rotana Howard, Susan Lines, Grace Senior, Tyla Kingi. Reserve: Shelley McElroy.