Gisborne - East Coast golf roundup

Golf Roundup compiled and edited by Chris Taewa. If you have a story, tournament to promote or results you wish to have printed, contact The Gisborne Herald at 869-0633 or email sports@gisborneherald.co.nz

ONE-man shows highlighted the opening round of a trophy designated for two — the Gisborne Motors Ford Barns-Graham Cup men’s pairs — on Saturday.

Brent Colbert and Sam Willock did not have or need their partners in the round of 32 handicap matches.

One versus two almost always ends in victory for the combined forces. To have two such matches go the other way is a rarity.

Colbert, minus Andrew Putnam (yes, same name as the PGA pro), beat BG newbie Glen Udall and Al Baldwin 2 and 1.

Colbert, off an 8-handicap from the championship blue tees, was in fine form. His efforts included three birdies, one of those a near ace on the par-3 second hole, and he was 3-over the card when handshakes were exchanged.

Sam Willock’s long-time BG Cup partner Marty Reynolds knew he was going to be away for the first round of matchplay and recommended he get a new partner for 2021.

Willock, who got to the semifinals with Reynolds last year, wasn’t having any of that, He told him he would go it alone for round 1 if they qualified.

They did. Willock did and went on to beat Richard Foon and Neville West 2 and 1.

The question for the round of 16 opponents of Colbert and Willock is that if they can win by themselves, what challenge do to they pose with some assistance?

Tim Sherratt and John Pittar will find that out as they are next in the firing line of the Colbert Show (guest starring Putnam).

Sherratt, a losing semifinalist with Mark Gemmell last year, has John Pittar riding shotgun with him this time and the combo ejected defending champions Brian Clarke and Mike Dodgshun 4 and 3.

While it is widely recognised seedings mean little in the fickle world of golf, top seeds Glenn Morley and Gray Clapham escaped being the talk of the clubhouse.

One-down playing the 18th against Don Wright and Brian Morrissey, the No.1 qualifers won the 18th and first extra hole to stay alive.

Not so second seeds Jimmy Situ and Carl Carmody, who were ruthlessly discarded 5 and 4 by 31st seeds John Van Helden and Stu Harbottle.

Others to advance were Don Griffin and George Brown, Chris Taewa and Lee “Pikey” Hewson, John Aitchison and Dallas Atkins, Reid Fletcher and Gerald Kemp, Darren Patumaka and Thomas Donovan, John Williams and Clive Dean, Bruce Talbot and Bill Simpson, Darryn White and Alan Williams, Neil Mackie and Paul Mullooly, Andy Hayward and Mark Stewart, and Peter Hakiwai and Frank Ball.

The round of 16 is this Saturday, along with the first round of the Bryan Cup subsidiary (for first and second-round losers in the BG Cup) and the Barns-Graham Plate (for non-qualifiers).

S Spence/A Witters 146.

O Thompson/D Kirkpatrick 121.25, M Francois/C Nelson 122.5, L Holmberg/V Fletcher 123.75, R Taewa/P Gayford 126.5, T Lewis/M Williams 126.5, J Utting/J Steele 127.

L Daniels/P Griffin 40.5, R Pettigrew/J Alderson 44, T Allan/B McIldowie 45.5.

B Whyte/K Shaw, T Lewis/M Williams, P Griffin/L Daniels

B Whyte/K Shaw, T Lewis/M Williams.

C Nelson 27.

L Fletcher.

B Colbert, S Jeune, P Graham, P Clayton, C Jeffrey, N Mackie, J Williams.

N Mackie.

D Griffin +2, W Thompson +2, T Goldsmith +2, J Aitchison +1, V Richardson sq, R Owen sq, W Brown sq, J Williams sq, C Dean sq.

M Smith, P Butler, S Harbottle.

P Butler.

G Morley/G Clapham v D Griffin/G Brown. C Taewa/L Hewson v J Aitchison/D Atkins. Reid Fletcher/G Kemp v D Patumaka/T Donovan. A Putnam/B Colbert v J Pittar/T Sherratt. J Williams/C Dean v B Talbot/B Simpson. D White/A Williams v N Mackie/P Mullooly. A Hayward/M Stewart v M Reynolds/S Willock. 1 P Hakiwai/F Ball v S Harbottle/J Van Helden. P Goodwin/B Payne v P Clayton/R Chalmers. M Norman/D Jenkins v J McGregor/P Wauchop.

B Morrissey/D Wright v B Read/M Smith. H Williams/P Butler v R Morgan/C Jeffrey. R Fergus/A Kirkpatrick v C Poole/V Richardson. A Baldwin/G Udall v M Dodgshun/B Clarke. B Brown/R Gibson v K Goldsmith/T Goldsmith. H Keast/M Callaghan v S Jeune/D Hall. W Mortleman/P Graham v R Foon/N West. C Christie/D Bush v J Situ/C Carmody. J Jenner/N Jones v B Morgan/K Travers. M Barker/W Brown v A Bacon/D Grant.

A DUMMY-spitting Mother Nature interrupted the progress of the Te Kanawa Cup men’s pairs over the weekend.

The course was closed on Sunday due to flooding so the date has been extended to June 26 for players to complete their round of 16 matches in the Te K and Fletcher subsidiary sections.

Getting in before the storm hit, however, was teacher duo Craig Christophers and Matt Henwood.

They moved into the quarterfinals with a 3 and 1 win over Glen McKinnon and Phil Nepia on Saturday morning.

It gave Christophers bragging rights over younger brother and top qualifier Mike, who was knocked out in the first round.

Tracey Ford add another piece of silverware to her golfing collection — the John Penny women’s matchplay trophy. But she did it the hard way in a 19-hole battle with Jean Foot.

Zane Boyle is leading the qualifying pack for The Power Connections 18-hole men’s shootout.

Boyle has a net total of 574, one ahead of Tom Reynolds, with Steve Phillips sitting third on 583.

Players count their four best net scores off the blue tees and four best nets off the whites, and the top 19 go on to fight it out in the hole-by-hole elmination final on October 2.

Extra incentive has been given for qualifying. Should any of the top three qualifiers go on to win the shootout, that player will pocket extra bucks courtesy of the sponsor.

T Ford def J Foot on the 19th.

A Nairne 38, E Parkin 34, P Wellard 34, C Brown 34, W Brown 34, W Carpendale 33, A Reedy 33, L Lexmond 32.

THE Te Puia Hot Springs women’s open and round 6 of the Poverty Bay women’s pennants is on Saturday.

Tee-off is 10am.

Pennants team players lists to Aomihi Cook at 022-6248-128 or acanddc@hotmail.co.nz

VETERANS are advised to get their entries in as early as possible for the Gisborne East Coast men’s and women’s vets open tournaments at Poverty Bay’s Awapuni Links in November.

The men’s tournament, from November 7 to 10, is limited to the 72 entries while the women’s is limited to 40.

Entry forms are available on the NZ Veteran Golfers Association website nzva.co.nz or by contacting giseastcoastvets@outlook.com

The next GEC vets’ competition is at Poverty Bay on Tuesday, July 6, teeing off at 10am.

A GOLFER would not normally be accepting the winner’s honours for a card with two nines on it.

David Waihaki did as, fortunately for him, the men’s competition on Sunday was a stableford.

Waihaki made nine on the same hole — the seventh and 16th — but went some way to making up for that with several pars and a birdie on the 18th to win with 97-22-75, for 35 points.

Fairlane Wesche took a less dramatic path to winning the Harwood women’s par round. She ended +3 courtesy of shooting 85-13-72.

F Wesche +3, T Smith +2, J Thompson +1, E Westwood sq., L Morgan -2, L Steel -5, S Adam -5..

D Waihaki 35, G Hornblow 34, P Bremner 31, Wayne Wesche 30, B Crowley 28.

THE Patutahi Men’s Open scheduled for last weekend has been postponed due to Sunday’s storm.

It will be held on Sunday, July 4, and will feature the Bryan Johnson Memorial.

A cup of tea will be followed by tee-off at 11am.

Inquiries to George Brown at 027-370-9869.

K McLatchie 99-26-72, L Haisman 100-24-76, R Maloy 110-32-78.

M de Luze 20, O Willimott 18, T Hindmarsh 17, B Wallace 17, B McKenzie 16.

R Akroyd 22, J Graham 21, N Bunting 19, L Jamieson 18, I Tietjen 17.