Top Kiwi golfer Ryan Fox tees off at his charity event in Waihi Beach last year. Photo / Jamie Troughton/Dscribe Media
Top Kiwi golfer Ryan Fox tees off at his charity event in Waihi Beach last year. Photo / Jamie Troughton/Dscribe Media
Trent Boult’s sharp line and length and the explosive ability of Caleb Clarke to reel in opponents may spell seriously bad news for Waihī Beach fishing stocks this week.
And while Christian Cullen’s renowned elusiveness might extend to being caught on the water, his golfing prowess has added intrigue toanother star-studded version of The Fox.
Recently retired Black Caps pace-bowler Boult will make his debut at the event, bringing with him a seriously solid golf game and his own boat, appropriately named “Line and Length”.
“Golf is a bit easier to wrangle when I’m playing cricket around the world but I love any opportunity to get out on my boat, and this is the perfect opportunity to do it for a good cause,” Boult said.
Clarke, meanwhile, has just returned from the All Blacks’ end-of-year Northern Hemisphere tour, where the blockbusting wing was in some of the best form of his career. Former All Black fullback Cullen will also be joined by defending champion, Waihi-raised gymnastics Olympian Dylan Schmidt, as well as double Olympic rowing champion Eric Murray, professional golfer Mark Brown, and Bay of Plenty rugby stars Kurt Ecklund and Naitoa Ah Kuoi, who’ve both just returned from the All Blacks XV tour. The Steamers pair are renowned fishermen in their own right, complete with their own social channels, affectionately known as Baitman and Rodin.
Dylan Schmidt with his winning kingfish last year at The Fox. Photo / Jamie Troughton/Dscribe Media
Fox has just completed his first full year on the PGA Tour, playing his third Olympic Games in Paris and also making all four cuts at the Major Championships for the second consecutive year.
He’s back in New Zealand over summer and is excited about getting back to one of his favourite spots in the country.
“My family has a long association with Waihi Beach and that beautiful blue water definitely holds a special place in my heart, which extends to those organisations who help people enjoy it,” Fox said. “We’ve got an awesome lineup of sporting legends turning up this year and I’m really looking forward to seeing how their competitiveness and skills cross over.”
This will be the fifth year of the tournament - presented by Shimano Fishing New Zealand - with more than $175,000 having been raised for the two local charities over the previous four years.
The format starts with a celebrity auction on the Thursday night, followed by the fishing component on the Friday, with Saturday bringing an 18-hole shotgun-start day at Waihī Beach Golf Club, ending with a charity auction.
Last year, Schmidt provided the star turn on home waters as he reeled in a 13.5kg kingfish - his first ever - and then employed his 8-handicap golf swing to good effect to lead home the 24/7 Environmental, featuring Grant Hooker, Sam Dunlop, Andy Roach and Glenn Ross to the overall title.
Event director, Sports Inc’s Kelsen Butler, said the support from teams and the local community made it one of the most anticipated weekends of the year.
“To get the calibre of sporting stars committing this year has been absolutely unbelievable and it’s also worked out brilliantly with Foxy’s busy schedule,” Butler said. “But he’d already committed a year out - it just shows how important this event is to him, and how much he enjoys helping out two great local charities.”
