Defending New Zealand Men’s Interprovincial champions Bay of Plenty have cruised through to the semi-finals, joining Auckland, Canterbury, and hosts Wellington in the final four at Paraparaumu Beach Golf Club today.

A handful of teams had a chance to make today’s final day, highlighting the closeness of the competition thus far.

Not one team boasts a perfect record.

After a minor hiccup to start the week with a half against Tasman, the BOP outfit has been near flawless since, winning every match to top their side of the draw ahead of Wellington.

They’ve won five and a half match points and accumulated 20.5 games to sit a match and a half clear of the host team, who earned their way into the playoffs tomorrow on game points.

They’ll play Canterbury today as they finished second in their section behind Auckland.

BOP captain Jordan Goulding says they’ve achieved their first objective this week, but the job isn’t finished.

“We’re pretty excited to be playing tomorrow [Saturday]. It’s going to be a challenge as the course is really starting to dry out and become quite fiery," says Jordan.

"However, the boys look like they’re starting to find their groove. We just need to find some of the same magic again tomorrow.”

BOP came into the final day of round robin on Friday needing one win from two to confirm their place in the last four but faced two challenging games against Northland and Wellington.

After beating Northland comfortably by a 4 – 1 margin, they played Wellington knowing they’d secured a semi-final spot.

They didn’t want to take their foot off the gas to ensure they went into today full of confidence, which they will after a narrow 3 – 2 win over the capital city side.

Jordan says he’s proud of the team as they’ve given themselves a rare opportunity to win back-to-back titles.

“It would mean a lot to all of us, especially our manager Mike Campbell, who puts a lot of hours into us. We’ve also got Shaun Campbell back from the US again, and it would be pretty special to win again with almost the same group of lads as last year.”

Wellington has an opportunity to win at home again, just like they did in 2010 at Paraparaumu.

Two wins would have cemented their place in today’s semi’s, but they faced the top two teams on their side of the draw in Taranaki and BOP.

The Wellingtonians completed the first part of the job, beating Taranaki 4 – 1 on Friday morning. Unfortunately, a loss to BOP on Friday afternoon meant they needed Otago to half or beat Taranaki on Friday afternoon to have a chance.

They got their wish as Taranaki fell agonisingly short, halving with Otago to send the hosts to the final four.

Wellington captain and number three Jonno Cane says getting through is a relief.

“It feels awesome. It was obviously really tight for us in that last game, so it’s a big relief to have crept through. The tournament pretty much starts again tomorrow, so we’re going to try our best and see what happens," says Jonno.

Repeating the district’s heroics of 13-years-ago are at the forefront of their minds, but they’re focused on winning one game at a time.

“Home wins are always going to be special. Having that home course advantage can sometimes be a burden, so we’re going to have to get over that. It would be fantastic to see plenty of Wellingtonians and Kapiti Coasters out here cheering for us.”

Peter Spearman-Burn played in the winning Wellington side 13 years ago and remembers how special it was winning at the spiritual home of golf in New Zealand.

Wellington plays Auckland, who topped their section following a half against Canterbury on Friday morning and a dominant win over Waikato on Friday afternoon, which secured them the top spot.

The Aucklanders finished equal with Canterbury on four and a half match points but accumulated 21 game points compared to Canterbury’s 18.5 games.

The semi’s get underway at 7.30am today, with the New Zealand Women’s Interprovincial division two final following closely behind.