Bay pair taking shakedown seriously

It's usually the shakedown before the serious business of strokeplay and matchplay but a shift in format has added extra edge to tomorrow's New Zealand foursomes championships, especially for Tauranga duo Sam Davis and Craig Hamilton and their shared goal of cracking the elite amateur squad in the next 18 months.

Mt Maunganui hosts the 36-hole New Zealand men's and women's foursomes championships as a prelude to the 12th annual Grant Clements Memorial 72-hole strokeplay tournament Saturday and Sunday.

New Zealand Golf has traditionally held the foursomes and national strokeplay/matchplay tournaments over one week at the same venue but this year have split the three competitions, with Mt Maunganui hosting the foursomes and matchplay (April 18-22), with the strokeplay at Hastings from March 22-25.

Hamilton, who debuted at No 5 for Bay of Plenty at last year's New Zealand interprovincial, is a fan of the revised format.

"It's quite cool and breaks the tournaments into three pieces. For a guy like (Bay of Plenty No 1) Brad Kendall when he won the strokeplay in Hastings (two years ago), playing foursomes, strokeplay and then four rounds of matchplay before a 36-hole final was a huge amount of golf to play in a week."

Alternate shot foursomes is a format rarely played outside of pennants and, given Hamilton (Omanu) and Davis (Tauranga) play for different clubs, their decision to pair up tomorrow might seem odd.

But Hamilton (+1.6) and Davis (+1.3) are good mates who practise together most days at Omanu.

"The key to foursomes is knowing each other's game and having fun," Hamilton said. "Sam's an easy guy to get on with but because you're not playing your own game the whole time there's pressure having someone relying on you. You end up in parts of the course you wouldn't usually play from so you need the ability to move on from the odd bad shot pretty quickly."

Left-handed Davis has been working with coach Jay Carter on moving the ball from right to left while Hamilton also fades the ball strongly, although he concedes his mate has got a few yards on him off the tee.

"Sam hits it long so we should be on the par-fives in two shots no matter who tees off. He also hits it straight, although I've probably just put the kybosh on him so you'd better say in the Bay Times he hits it wide and short!"

Hamilton knows a good performance tomorrow and during the Grant Clements would boost his and Davis' chances of getting noticed nationally. "Foursomes probably isn't the big prize but any result at national level that puts your name out there has got to be a good one."

Saturday and Sunday's strokeplay tournament has again attracted a capacity field of top amateur golfers, with three-quarters of the 80-strong men's field on scratch or better.

Two-times defending champion Ryan Fox is now pro, with Canterbury's Harry Bateman and Jordan Bakermans, last year's runnerup Liam Balneaves (Southland), and Takaka's Blair Riordan are expected to feature. Bay of Plenty's best hopes are Hamilton and Davis, Mt Maunganui's Brad Kendall and Rotorua quartet Landyn Edwards , Peter Lee, William Howard and Victor Janin.

Leading women's players include Jesse Hamilton (Maugakiekie), Zoe Brake (Whakatane), Chantelle Cassidy (Tokoroa) and Munchin Keh (Pakuranga).

Hamilton's brother James was the last Bay of Plenty winner three years ago and his yardage book has come in handy as Craig pores over the details. James, now playing on the New Zealand PGA, is a stickler for detail, recording every shot he plays, and it's something that's rubbed off.

"I started doing more of it playing in Scotland last year and it's something Jay's hammered home with all the Bay squad - every bit of information helps. You will never refer back to everything but it's a good discipline to have, making you analyse what you're doing and eliminating stupid mistakes."

Bay of Plenty's New Zealand foursomes championship entries:

Men: Bailey Smith-Jason Madden (Mt Maunganui), Craig Hamilton (Omanu)-Sam Davis (Tauranga), Hayden Beard (Mt Maunganui)-Ray Hollick (Pakuranga), Victor Janin-William Howard (Rotorua), Hayden White-Sam Howe (Opotiki), David Feeney (Tauranga)-Brad Kendall (Mt Maunganui), Brian Stokes-Marcus Gray (Mt Maunganui), John Foley-Mark Hughes (Mt Maunganui).

Women: Heather Lavery (Rotorua)-Shelley McElroy (Springfield).