Golfers tend to be good sports and that proved the case as the Te Kanawa Cup men's pairs final did not go ahead on Sunday.
Father and son Shannon and Beau Toa were supposed to play Ian Loffler and Steve Webb in the handicap matchplay final.
However, Webb's flight from Auckland was cancelled and he was unable to make it back in time.
Loffler offered to go it alone but the Toas wanted a fair fight and were happy to postpone the final.
Had it gone ahead, the Toas would have gone in with momentum after beating top qualifiers Chris Fox and Matt Downie 3 and 2 in a delayed Te K semifinal on Saturday.
The Fletcher Cup subsidiary final was played and proved an “epic” extra-hole battle.
Dan Collier and Ray Walford beat Rod Moore and Duane Mauheni on the 19th.
Moore and Mauheni led 3-up after four holes only for Walford to make net birdies on four of the next five holes.
Collier added a birdie on the eighth and he and his mate teed off the 10th hole 2-up.
Walford won the 11th to make it 3-up.
Their opposition countered with Mauheni winning the 12th and a Moore birdie on the 14th closing the deficit to 1-down.
Back came Collier and Walford with a win on the 15th and a half on the 16th put them dormie 2-up.
Staring defeat in the white of the eyes, Mauheni won the 17th and Moore the 18th after both their opponents missed 6-foot putts for victory.
Down the 19th (par-5 first hole) they went and Collier made a brilliant birdie after finding the trees to snatch the title.
The Turanganui Cup subsidiary has also been postponed.
Father and son Anthony and Shaun Pahina beat Sel Peneha and Dave Te Maro on the 21st in their semifinal on Saturday to set up a Sunday final against Tom Reynolds and Darrel Gregory only for Covid to strike the Pahina camp.
■ Clubs were well represented among the top prizes at the Fletcher Meat Treat women's open tournament on Saturday.
Patutahi's Rhonda Maloy posted the round of the day — 105-33-72 including a two — to win the overall net. Park, Wairoa, Mahia, Poverty Bay and Te Puia Springs were represented among other winners.
The final round of the Northern Zone women's interclub pennants was held in conjunction with the tournament.
SUNDAY — Men's stableford: S Phillips 33 on c/b from L Hayes.
SATURDAY — Fletcher Meat Treat women's open tournament, overall net: R Maloy 72.
Division 1, gross: K Hay 83, C Pipi 94.
Net: S Robertson 77, R Taiapa 79.
Stableford: T Smith 31, L Tana 30.
Division 2, gross: M Francois 96, J Foot 100.
Net: M Pickles 78, T Paku 78.
Stableford: J Winiata 31, S Maisey 29.
Division 3, gross: R Spence 103, H Miratana 110.
Net: B Woods 78, O Thompson 78.
Stableford: R Ngatai 32, V Fletcher 29.
Approaches: M Sheridan, R Spence.
Closest to line: O Thompson.
Twos: R Maloy, M Colebourne, C Pipi, P Gayford.
Men's stableford: S Peneha.
WEDNESDAY (July 6) — Peter Hatwell competition and Millgan Salver Putts, day winner: J Muir 96 22-74.
Drawn twos: L Brown.
SUNDAY (July 1) — Foster Cup women's pairs, aggregate stableford: B Woods/T Ford 76, J Muir/S Maisey 75.
Peter Clayton showed his “Iceman” qualities under pressure to advance a step closer to Gisborne Motors Barns-Graham Cup men's pairs glory on Saturday.
Clayton sank a 10-foot birdie putt on the 18th to give him and partner Mark Hunt a 1-up quarterfinal victory over 2017 BG Cup champions Neil Mackie and Paul Mullooly.
Clayton said it was the only time they were up in the match.
The win put them into a semifinal against Nick Whyte and Tim Williams, who needed 21 holes to see off two-BG winner Barry Brown and former New Zealand left-hand championship runner-up Ross Gibson.
Whyte has proved a steadfast anchor of the combination although they had to withstand a fightback from Brown and Gibson, who trailed 3-down at the turn.
Williams, getting two shots on the 21st (par-4 third hole) struck the fatal blow.
Brothers Tene and Kit Goldsmith earned a spot in the quarters with a 5 and 4 demolition of 2012 BG winners Colin Christie and Duncan Bush.
Tene said Kit was their mainstay and they were helped by a couple of cold putters in their opponents' bags.
The Goldsmiths face Ray Farmer and Bernie Rothschild, the latter winning the BG way back in the late 90s with Shanan Gooch.
Farmer and Rothschild beat 2017 champions Neil Mackie and Paul Mullooly 1-up — a Farmer bogey with a shot enough to get them across the line.
Bryan Cup subsidiary pairs had two rounds over the weekend.
Still alive are Cliff Poole and Vance Richardson, John Van Helden and Stu Harbottle, Pete Hakiwai and Ross Chalmers, and Glenn Morley and Gray Clapham.
■ A moment's silence, charged glasses and the exchange of some classic memories marked a tribute to John Whitehead, who passed away last week.
The dry-witted ex-possum hunter, who worked for many years in the wool industry, was a popular member of the Three Putt Club, which transformed into what is now known as the Sunday School.
John had a couple of prominent nicknames — Zorro and Whitebait.
Zorro was fitting for those who experienced first-hand his full and sometimes wildly unpredictable swing.
John could hit a ball out there but while he was a straight-up character, straight was not an adjective you would usually associate with his flight path.
Hence Zorro, representative of his zig-zag journey from tee to green — an adventure that sometimes took him to off-the-beaten places littered with the bones of elephants and Jimmy Hoffa.
But a perusal of Gisborne Herald archives reveals that while Zorro/Whitebait/John could chop it like Paul Bunyan, at times he also unleashed the inner Nicklaus.
While never a champion, John fashioned a decent record in the Barns-Graham Cup men's pairs alongside regular partner Gary Bates.
Likewise with Paul Rickard in the annual Awapuni Shootout — the pair winning it in 2010.
And he was no slouch on other sporting fields, playing on the wing for Ngatapa alongside and against some of the famous names of Poverty Bay rugby back in the day.
But for most, John will simply be remembered as a genuine character.
He would sit on the 19th after a Sunday School round and inevitably those at his table would be told a joke.
Bar a cheeky little smile, John would deliver it with the deadpan expertise of a stand-up comic, then watch as the table erupted.
John died at home on Thursday, July 7. He was 81 and a bloody good sort.
Wednesday — Nan Carmine Cup 9-holers' pairs matchplay final: S Armstrong /L Daniels def R Pettigrew/S Jefferd.
LGU 5, silver division: B Whyte 95-19-76.
Bronze 1: K Shaw 102-26-78.
Bronze II: C Skuse 112-30-82.
Eagles Cup women's 2-day combined stableford: J Utting/C Nelson/K Shaw 144.
Plate: A Witters/B Whyte/M Francois 143.
Murray Halberg women's individual 2-day stableford: B Whyte 68.
SUNDAY — Men's stableford, division 1: B Morgan 39, C Taewa 37, P Anderson 34.
Division 2: G Marchbank 37, P Rickard 35, L Hewson 35.
Twos: P Clayton.
Approach: D Pirimona.
SATURDAY — Gisborne Motors Barns-Graham Cup and Bryan Cup men's pairs, twos: C Bauld.
Approach: P Clayton.
THURSDAY (July 7) — Men's stableford, division 1: P Graham 36, A Abrahams 36, M Higham 34, B Colbert 34, V Richardson 34.
Division 2: W Thompson 36, R Fletcher 36, H Johanson 36, M Smith 34.
Twos: M Thomas.
Approach: J Rowe.
Henry Rasmussen and James Forrester are the 2022 Busby Cup men's pairs champions. The duo combined impressively to beat Mark Higham and Daryl Goldsmith in the handicap matchplay final.
The winners also topped the men's stableford — Forrester winning with 40 points and Rasmussen second with 38.
Iritana Ngarimu beat Hiria McClutchie in a Women's Handicap Cup round 1 match. Ngarimu also won the women's stableford with 36 points.
SUNDAY — Women's Handicap Cup matchplay, round 1: I Ngarimu def H McClutchie.
Women's stableford: I Ngarimu 36, H McClutchie 33, H Miratana 35.
Busby Cup men's pairs final: H Rasmussen/J Forrester def M Higham/D Goldsmith.
Men's stableford: J Forrester 40, H Rasmussen 38, D Goldsmith 38, P Harrison 35, P Ngarimu 33.
COMING UP: SUNDAY, round 2 of women's Handicap Cup, round 1 of Makarika Cup men's matchplay, committee meeting.
The Patutahi Men's Open scheduled for Sunday has been postponed for the second time due to the weather.The club said on its Facebook page on Tuesady that the course was saturated and with more rain forecast, it was likely to get worse.
SUNDAY — Men's stableford: R Moleta 36, S Marsh 35, H Harris 34, G Brown 34, P Hokianga 34, J Blair 34, S Watson 34.
Twos: H Harris, J Blair.
FRIDAY — Meat pack 9-hole stableford, senior division: R Pardoe 21, T Brodie 20, T Green 18, G Brown 18, D Russell 18.
Junior division: L Jamieson 20, J Blair 19, S Crodie 19, I Tietjen 18, G Maude 18.
Ethine Reeves and Audrey Tamanui-Nunn hit 12 greens to win the greens in regulation competition on Sunday.
SUNDAY — Greens in regulation competition, men: E Reeves 12, T Ritchie 11, T Brown 10.
Women: A Tamanui-Nunn 12, P Rutene 10, C Te Rito 10.
COMING UP: SUNDAY, free day competition.