The first round of one of the pre-eminent women's club golf competitions in the Western Bay took place at Tauranga Golf club yesterday.
After a delay to the start because of a classic winter's frost, the BOP Association Central Zone Silver and Bronze Matchplay pennants got under way in beautifulconditions.
The highly competitive inter-club competition featured teams of six players from the Tauranga, Mount Maunganui, Omanu, Omokoroa, Otumoetai, Te Puke and Waihi. Teams were made up of three Silver Salver players (0 -18.4 handicap) and three Bronze Tray players (18.5-40.4 handicap) who were seeded by handicap, with the Silver players taking on each other in matchplay off the stick while the Bronze players challenged each other in handicap matchplay.
The competition format is unique in that each player competes against two opposing players concurrently so plays six matches over the three rounds of the competition.
Each of the 18 holes played is worth a point to the winner of that hole.
Last year the weather was atrocious so no play was possible but the carry through champions from 2011 were Tauranga in the Bronze division and Waihi in the Silver division.
Round two will be played at Omanu on July 8 and round 3 at Te Puke on July 29.