Good mates Matt Henwood and Mike Christophers will battle it out in one of the junior semifinals.
Tony Leggett, who knocked out top seed Craig Christophers, awaits the winner of the Shaun Pahina-Barry Cox quarterfinal.
The endeavour section semifinals are all but confirmed. Top seed Jordan Coppen plays James Jenkins and youngster Marcus Gray will meet the victor from the Charlie Uili/Luke Hayes’ duel.
The women’s club champs resume the following weekend.
men were set for the first round of matchplay before the Delta outbreak shut the door on play.
William Brown top qualified in the 15-man senior field to earn a bye into round 2. The rest are in action this Saturday.
The Covid-19 lockdown and subsequent lack of golf for many could increase the possibility of an upset amid what would normally appear plain sailing for the higher seeds.
Dean Twigley, who won the senior crown 23 years ago as a teenager, could be one to watch if he can produce the goods consistently.
Twigley shot 71 in the first round of 36-hole qualifying — the best 18-hole score in the field — but crashed and burned with 87 in round 2.
Intermediate top seed John Van Helden has first-year Bay member Alan Williams to get past. If he negotiates Williams, there are plenty of booby traps ahead, including Darryl Grant, former intermediate champ John Kerekere, former Poverty Bay-East Coast national interprovincial representative Pete Hakiwai, the enigmatic Vance Richardson and defending champion Zach Rolls, who knocked out Van Helden in last year’s semis.
Ten men, led by top qualifier Murray Smith, are battling out the junior honours. Defending champion Larry Foster will have to do it the hard way after qualifying bottom.
The endeavour section features four hopefuls, so they are straight into semifinals.
The women’s club champs resume next week.
■ The annual insurance golf day which was to be held tomorrow at Poverty Bay has been cancelled due to Covid-19,
is back into club championship mode with quarterfinals in most divisions.
The feature match of the senior men’s division is defending champion and top seed Hukanui Brown taking on older brother Eddie Brown. John Priestley is up against Sel Pohatu, Regan Hindmarsh faces Lyall Anania and Chris Beattie is out to upset second seed Dwayne Russell.
The No.1 seed went in the first round of the intermediate division, underlining the unpredictable beauty of the game, especially matchplay.
Intermediate bottom seed Hamish Harris, after disposing of Ashley Hindmarsh, shifts focus to Pat Molloy, defending champ Tony Green plays George Brown, Sam Marsh meets Tom Hindmarsh and Pat Hokianga locks clubs with Adam Brodie.
Pete “Chopper” Summersby will attempt to belie his nickname in his junior quarterfinal against Sai Eder. Gerry Maude is up against Graham Holland, wily leftie Sijtze Mohlmann faces fellow veteran Mason Smith and former world jetsprinting champion Peter Briant will look to outgun Dave Fieldhouse.
A couple of intermediate women’s matches are scheduled — Anahera Stills-Hindmarsh versus Jan Ewart and Colleen Wesche v Lorraine Haisman.
Golf Club’s open closing day tournament scheduled for Sunday has been cancelled. However, plans are under way for the club’s 50th anniversary celebrations next year. More details to come.
season resumes on Sunday although its open closing day, which was to be held on Saturday, September 18, has been cancelled. The club will run its club championship finals that day instead.
