Golf Roundup

TWO MUCH: Champions were found in prestigious men’s pairs matchplay competitions at Poverty Bay and Gisborne golf clubs on Sunday. Neil Mackie (left) and Paul Mullooly won the final of the Barns-Graham Cup, beating Roy Skuse and Bernie Rothschild 3 and 2 in the final. Pictures by Paul Rickard

Poverty Bay

THIRTY-eight years after playing in the Barns-Graham Cup men’s pairs for the first time, Neil Mackie finally got his hands on the trophy.

Mackie and Paul Mullooly beat Roy Skuse and Bernie Rothschild 3 and 2 in the matchplay final on Sunday.

Their victory denied Skuse a third title and Rothschild a second, 20 years after winning his first.

Mackie first played in the BG Cup when he shifted to Gisborne in 1979. He partnered with fellow lawyer Dick Kearney and they ended up winning the Bryan Cup — a subsidiary trophy to the Barns-Graham.

Mackie recalled that the pair they beat that day was Skuse and Bill Allen, who has played with Skuse in this particular competition for decades, and won it twice with him, but was unavailable for this year’s edition.

The 2017 final was decided on Poverty Bay’s famous “triangle” — the 13th to 15th holes.

Mackie (off a 10-handicap) and Mullooly (17) led Skuse (20) and Rothschild (10) 2-up at the turn, but it was back to square two holes later.

They halved the 12th then Mackie and Mullooly won all three holes of the “triangle” to go 3-up with three to play, and finished the match on the 16th.

Mackie was the mainstay of the partnership, particularly in the semifinal, but he was quick to give Mullooly plenty of credit — describing him as “master of the killer blows”.

The champions had a close encounter in the semifinals against Duncan Bush and Colin Christie on Saturday.

Bush and Christie played under their handicaps but it was not enough to stop Mackie, who shot 79 off the stick, and Mullooly. The match ended on the 17th.

Skuse and Rothschild made no contest of their semi against Keith Daniels and Lee Pollitt, who had to endure the longest possible walk back to the clubhouse — all the way from the 13th green.

Dave Pirimona and Steve Palmer defeated Syd Liley and Robin Foster 2 and 1 in the Bryan Cup final.

Brent Colbert and Mark Barker defeated one-man band Brad Morgan 3 and 2 in the Barns-Graham Plate final — the only match the three of them played over the entire competition.

Morgan and Barker were stranded in Auckland for the best-ball qualifying round, leaving their respective partners — Colbert and Joe Green — to try to make the top 32 on their own. They didn’t.

Green was away for the final, leaving Morgan on his own.

Wednesday — Women’s chicken stableford: M Lane 43, F Pell 39, V Bell 39, M Shanks 38, J Utting 35, A Witters 35, J Steele 34, S Spence 34, T Corson 33 from A Sutton.

9-holers: B McIldowie 18.

Tuesday — Women’s par-3 teams’ competition, gross: J Utting, G Young, S Spence, J MacKinnon 272.

SUNDAY — Barns Graham Cup men’s pairs, final: Paul Mullooly/Neil Mackie def Roy Skuse/Bernie Rothschild.

Semifinals (Saturday): Mullooly/Mackie def Duncan Bush/Colin Christie, Skuse/Rothschild def Lee Pollitt/Keith Daniels.

Bryan Cup men’s pairs, final: Dave Pirimona/Steve Palmer def Sid Liley/Robin Foster.

Semifinals (Saturday): Liley/Foster def John Kerekere/Nigel McGregor, Pirimona/Palmer def Les Gunther/Craig Bauld.

Barns-Graham Plate, final: Brent Colbert/Mark Barker def Brad Morgan/Joe Green.

Men’s stableford, division 1: R Morley 38, D Situ 38, P Clayton 38, M Thomas 37, T Goldsmith 37.

Division 2: M Mulrooney 40, A Hayward 40, P Rickard 36, C Simpson 36, D Wright 35.

Twos: B Talbot, M Barker.

Approach: P Clayton.

SATURDAY — Men’s stableford, division 1: A Kirkpatrick 37, T Goldsmith 36, D Jenkins 34.

Division 2: B Proudfoot 37, M Smith 36, N Richardson 33.

Twos: V Richardson, D Pirimona, S Andreassen

Approach: P Clayton.

THURSDAY (July 13) — Men’s stableford, division 1: P Clayton 38, V Richardson 37, N Mackie 37, P Kerekere 37.

Division 2: B Proudfoot 40, R Skuse 39, S Bridge 37, P Mullooly 37, A Abrahams 37.

Twos: P Kerekere, C Dean, R Owen, N Mackie.

Approach: M Smith.

Gisborne Park

ANTHONY Pahina’s name will go on the Te Kanawa Cup for the first time; Geoff Hill’s will be engraved for the second after they stamped their class on the final of the prestigious men’s pairs competition on Sunday.

The Hill-Pahina combo proved too good for Chum Aramakutu and Rob Taylor on Sunday, forging a 4 and 3 victory to underline their superiority over the Kiri Te Kanawa Retirement Village-sponsored series.

A good start proved the difference.

“I think we were 3-up after four holes and just maintained it,” said Pahina, who, off 14, was the highest handicapper among the four.

Hill and Taylor were on 9 and Aramakutu 13.

By the 14th tee, Pahina and Hill were dormie 5-up and they finished a job well done on the next hole.

“As a team we played pretty well,” Pahina said. “We mixed it up nicely with a few birdies (four) here and there.

“It was pretty good golf from both teams. I think they had three birdies and we had four.”

Hill joined a select group to have won the Te K more than once. He and Rex Holdsworth beat Pani Ruru and John Collier in the 2010 final.

The 2017 champions will now shift their focus to the club championships, with Hill in the senior division and Pahina chasing intermediate honours.

It was a case of “hoo-Ray for two-Ray” in the Fletcher Cup final — a subsidiary of the Te Kanawa.

Ray Callaghan and Ray Walford beat Wayne “Meat Pack” McHugh and Rodney “Butch” Atkins 2 and 1 after starting on the 10th.

Callaghan said “the Rays were two in the ghetto” at the turn — 2-down in golf-speak — after McHugh “started sinking putts from nowhere”.

Both Rays made birdie to win the first hole, parred the next and won the third, then held on to their advantage to seal victory on the 17th after McHugh and Atkins missed putts to stay alive.

Electrinet Park results, SUNDAY — Men’s stableford: Z Boyle 39.

Kiri Te Kanawa Retirement Village Te Kanawa Cup men’s pairs matchplay final: G Hill/A Pahina def R Taylor and C Aramakutu.

Fletcher Cup subsidiary: R Walford/R Callaghan def B Atkins/W McHugh.

The Benson Cup women’s pairs matchplay final is on SUNDAY. The draw is — No.1 tee, 10am: J Foot/F Hutton v R Walford/F Brown.

Mahia

A WATER-LOGGED course added to the matchplay challenge as the finalists were confirmed in the President’s four-ball best-ball matchplay competition.

Colleen and Maraea Wesche defeated Viv Kyle and Lil Morgan to advance to the women’s final where they face Ali Maru and Elaine Westwood.

Brothers Roger and Duncan Bremner will play father and son Wayne and Clay Wesche in the men’s final.

Lee Steel won the women’s stableford (38 points), the LGU (98-25-73) and the putting (31).

SUNDAY — Men’s stableford: C Wesche 37, G Pitman 35, Wayne Wesche 33,R Bremner 32, P Bremner 31.

LGU: L Steel 98-25-73.

Women’s stableford: L Steel 38, A Maru,36, E Westwood 31.

Women’s putting: L Steel 31.

Tolaga Bay

DION Milner is the 2017 Bartram Cup men’s matchplay champion.

Milner defeated Trent Higgs 2 and 1 in the final while Walter Robinson beat John Hale 4 and 3 in the plate.

Mark Watts (40 points) won the men’s stableford on countback from Mike Brooker.

SUNDAY — Men’s stableford: M Watts 40, M Brooker 40, J Murphy 37, D Milner 37.

Twos: J Hale, Taine Lincoln.

Bartram Cup men’s matchplay final: D Milner def T Higgs 2 and 1.

Flight: W Robinson def J Hale 4 and 3.

Tahunga

A 25-point haul for the first nine holes helped Lee Johnson to a comfortable victory in the Parahina Cup 27-hole stableford on Sunday.

Johnson totalled 60 points to finish six ahead of Brett Law, who had the best stableford for the second and third nines holes.

SUNDAY — Parahina Cup 27-hole stableford, overall winner: L Johnson 60 from B Law 54.

Best first nine holes: L Johnson 25.

Best second nine holes: B Law 22.

Best third nine holes: B Law.

Best second shot: T Sherratt.

Te Puia Springs

SOME golfers never lose it.

Nehe Dewes has not played a lot this year but showed on Sunday he still knows how to win.

Dewes topped the club stableford with 81-18-63, for 39 points, heading off Jim Devery by one point.

SUNDAY — Stableford: N Dewes 39, J Devery 38, P Harrison 37, G Roberts 36, H Rasmussen 35, M Higham 33, P Ngarimu 33.

Twos: G Roberts.

COMING UP: SUNDAY, Busby Tray men’s competition, round 1, Morrow Cup women’s 27-hole competition (9am start).

Seniors

MIKE Orford bounced back from a few days in hospital with a winning performance in the Gisborne East Coast Veteran Golfers’ Society’s stableford on Tuesday.

Orford posted 39 points to top a field of 19 in the competition, which had been rearranged and relocated to the Poverty Bay course because of the recent wet weather.

Ron Young was second on 38 points, followed by Dave Mettrick, Pete Koorey, Brian Jopson and Bernie Rothschild, all on 36.

The stableford was also round 6 of the GEC Golfer of the Year series, and Young’s efforts increased his overall lead.

Bernie Rothschild is second while Orford was the big mover, leaping from 20th to eighth on the standings.

The next round is at Patutahi on Tuesday, August 8 (12 noon tee-off).

TUESDAY — GEC Veteran Golfers’ stableford: M Orford 39, R Young 38, D Mettrick 36, P Koorey 36, B Jopson 36, B Rothschild 36, G Burnside 35, B Morrissey 34, C Brown 33, R Farmer 33.

Twos: J Fricker, B Hall, R Young.