Goldie leads host club charge at Gisborne East Coast Vets’ Open

GROUP 1 WINNER: Tene Goldsmith has a long list of achievements in his golfing career. He added the Gisborne East Coast veterans' open Group 1 matchplay title to that list. Picture by Paul Rickard

Wayne Carpendale was the odd man out as the 2022 Gisborne East Coast veterans' open matchplay champions were decided yesterday.

Electrinet Park president Carpendale prevented a home track whitewash of the five men's divisions of the annual over-50s event played on the Poverty Bay course.

He needed extra holes to do it. Carpendale and Poverty Bay's Clive Dean had a battle royal in the Group 2 final decided by Dean's three-putt on the 19th.

The rest of the divisions of eight went the way of the host club.

Tene Goldsmith added another accolade to his long list of achievements in winning Group 1.

“Goldie” beat clubmate George Brown 4 and 2 after Brown twice came back from 3-down to cut his deficit to one.

Group 3 was also an all-Poverty Bay affair.

Peter Goodwin played solidly all tournament and overcame Ron Young 4 and 3 in the final.

Another Bay player, Bill Simpson, is enjoying a purple patch. He was far too good for Waipukurau's Brian Rose in the Group 4 final — the pair shaking hands on the 13th.

Reid Fletcher made it four division victories for Poverty Bay with a 2 and 1 defeat of Te Puia Springs' Peter Harrison in Group 5.

A small group of women competed over 54 holes of strokeplay and the visitors went home with the spoils.

Christina Kim — no, not the LPGA Tour pro — won the gross with 268 (93 90 85). The Mount Maunganui member came from 11 shots behind after two rounds to beat Paraparaumu Beach's Agnes Han by one shot.

Karen Taylor, of Waikato club Horsham Downs, won the net on countback from Han after both ended on 224.

Robyn Hayward, of Coromandel course Tairua, won the stableford with 103 points.