IT has been a busy time for golf in Rotorua in the last few weeks.
We had the inaugural New Zealand Speedgolf National Champs last week, that featured Nick Willis, and the weekend just gone we had the Rotorua Open.
We also have pennants going on, making this time of year a little more hectic.
Firstly, if I may talk about Landyn Edwards and his effort at the speedgolf champs.
His win has already been talked about a lot but now that he has won the New Zealand title, by one from Willis, we now have to get him to America for the final.
It's a short turnaround as it looks like about five weeks for him to get ready.
This means we have to raise funds for Edwards to get him over there.
The Rotorua Golf Club and some individuals have set up a fund for Edwards, so if anyone would like to help get one of our premier Rotorua amateur golfers on to the world stage, please contact the club 07 348 4051 or the golf shop 07 349 0446.
The Rotorua Golf Club course was in great condition for the Rotorua Open.
A little dry, like most places, making it play shorter than usual but the greens were pure.
This year the field was a little light compared with other years but it's very difficult to stop clashes with other tournaments, such as the Brian Perry Classic in Hamilton where both Victor Janin and Peter Lee (our local New Zealand playing professionals) played.
Janin had another good tournament in Hamilton finishing second, tied with Ryan Fox and Josh Geary at two-under the card, only one shot off the winning score from Kieran Muir.
Lee finished even with the card in a tie for 13th place.
This puts Janin into sixth place on the New Zealand order of merit which is great.
Janin and Lee head to the qualifying for the NZPGA Championship and then the NZ Open.
Best of luck for all those playing pennants around the BOP and please pop into the shop anytime for a chat or email me at ant@100percentgolf.com.
-Ant Barkley is the golf professional at the Rotorua Golf Club.