Mike Dodgshun (left) and Brian Clarke combined brilliantly to clinch the 2020 Gisborne Motors Barns-Graham Cup men's pairs title at Poverty Bay Golf Club on Sunday. The pair turned on a putting clinic in their 6 and 4 victory over Ross Gibson and Barry Brown in the handicap matchplay final. More on their win in the Poverty Bay section of Golf Roundup. Picture by Paul Rickard
Brian Clarke could almost hear the late, great EJ Gordon clapping after his Barns-Graham Cup-winning putt on Sunday.
Clarke drained a 30-foot birdie putt on the 14th hole to give him and partner Mike Dodgshun a convincing 6 and 4 win over Ross Gibson and Barry Brown in the matchplay final of the illustrious men's pairs competition.
It was a fitting way to end it.
Putting was the difference between the pairs on the day, with Clarke and Dodgshun's combined brilliance on “the dance floor” of Astaire and Rogers-like quality.
For Clarke, it was his second taste of BG glory, having first won it with Eric Gordon back in 2005. It was also the first time he had played in the cup since Gordon's death in 2012.
Back in the day, Gordon was rated arguably the best putter in the country.
And he would have taken his cap off to Clarke's Sunday performance on the greens.
Clarke, off 22, and Dodgshun (16) lost the opening hole to Gibson (10) and Brown (12). It was the only hole they lost.
They bounced back immediately to win the second hole and built a 3-up lead by the halfway mark, thanks largely to their short game prowess.
Dodgshun banged in a 50-foot-plus putt for par on the fifth to escape with a half; Clarke slotted a 10-foot bogey putt for a half on the seventh; and Clarke struck with an eight-foot par putt on the eighth for the win.
A Clarke par-3 on the 11th, getting a shot, put them 4-up and Dodgshun holed a 20-footer for par and the win on the 13th to make it 5-up with five holes to play.
Match referee Duncan Bush said it was a dominant display underlined by the flat sticks.
He pointed out, however, that on three or four occasions, Gibson suffered the agony of putts stopping on the edge of the hole.
Had a few more putts gone in for the eventual runners-up, it would have made things a little more tense at the business end, he said.
It was not to be and Dodgshun now has the chance at getting his name on a couple of major pieces of silverware as he is still alive in the intermediate men's club championships.
The Barns-Graham Cup semifinals were held on Saturday.
Clarke and Dodgshun beat Sam Willock and Marty Reynolds on the 18th in the battle of the farmers.
Gibson and Brown, after being 4-up with four holes to play against Tim Sherratt and Mark Gemmell, sneaked home on the 19th.
In 2003, Lee Pollitt played 150 holes over eight rounds on the way to sharing the Bryan Cup men's pairs title.
Pollitt and Chris Taewa met Neville Jenkins and Jeremy McLean in the final and after 25 holes it was still all square and light had run out.
Rather than return the next morning to complete it, the finalists decided to split the title and Pollitt, in his first taste of a club competition, took home the silverware and the results board, which he proudly put on display in his man cave.
Fast-forward 17 years and Pollitt, with a different partner, got his name on the trophy again — this time winning it outright.
Pollitt and fellow Englishman Keith Daniels defeated Brent Colbert and Andy Putnam 2 and 1 in the final on Sunday.
The Bryan Cup is the subsidiary to the Barns-Graham Cup and is contested for by the losers of the first and second rounds of the BG.
In contrast to his marathon 2003 effort, Pollitt had a more comfortable ride to the finish line, including being gifted two matches and facing just one player — Toby Williams — in another.
The Barns-Graham Plate, for those who fail to qualify for the BG Cup, was also decided on Sunday.
Johannes Carolus van Helden, aka club captain John van Helden, and Stu Harbottle beat Lee Hewson and Brad Morgan on the 18th.
The semifinalists have been confirmed in the senior men's club championship.
George Brown faces Peter Kerekere in one semi while Pete Anderson and Andrew Higham meet in the other.
Brown was 1-under the card in knocking out Thomas Donovan 4 and 3 in the quarterfinals.
Anderson crushed Alex Kirkpatrick 8 and 7, Higham beat Tene Goldsmith 4 and 3 and Kerekere was 3-up after seven holes when opponent Neil Mackie conceded for work reasons.
Three of the intermediate semifinals spots have been filled by John van Helden, Zach Rolls and Cliff Poole.
Likewise the junior semifinals — Lee Hewson, John Holmes and Larry Foster — and the endeavour semis — Don McFadyen, Brian Read and Dallas Atkins.
WEDNESDAY — LGU, silver division 1: G Young 92-16-76.
Bronze 1: J MacKinnon.
Two: G Young.
9-holers' net: B Dickson 65-43-22.
MONDAY — Women's red tee stableford: P Dymock 35.
SUNDAY — Men's stableford, division 1: P Anderson 39, B Morrissey 34, S Andreassen 33.
Division 2: D Meadows 43, K White 38, A Baldwin 36, M Mulrooney 34.
Twos: B Pratt.
Approach: D Patumaka.
SATURDAY — Twos: A Abrahams, N Richardson.
Approach: C Poole.
Thursday (July 9) — Men's stableford, division 1: S Andreassen 34, C Poole 34, J Bryden 34, D Mettrick 33, G Clapham 33.
Division 2: M Dodgshun 40, M Gemmell 35, J Aitchison 33, R Fletcher 33, H Williams 33, S Willock 33.
Twos: M Dodgshun, J Williams, J Aitchison, D Bush.
Approach: J Williams.
COMING UP: TOMORROW, veteran women's golf, 9am tee-off.
Handicap golf on Saturday. Nothing flash on Sunday. But both efforts were good enough for Roseanne Taiapa to enjoy a double dose of stableford success over the weekend.
Taiapa won on Saturday with 36 points and again on Sunday with 32.
Other weekend winners were Paul Wellard (35pts) on Saturday and Pete Stewart (34) on Sunday.
SUNDAY — Men's net: P Stewart 74, D Rameka 75.
Two: A Reedy.
Women's stableford: R Taiapa 32.
Drawn two: S Paku.
Saturday — Women's stableford: R Taiapa 36.
Drawn two: D Webb.
Men's stableford: P Wellard 35, R Grace 34.
Two: R Moore.
WEDNESDAY (July 8) — Women's net-plus-putts: J Muir 97-24-73+29 putts —102.
Twos: S Maisey.
SNAP!
Hazel Miratana and James Forrester repeated their wins from the previous weekend in Sunday club competitions.
Miratana won the LGU with 91-23-68 while Forrester's 32 points was enough to win the men's stableford on countback from three others.
SUNDAY — Round 2 of women's captain's competition/LGU: H Miratana 91-23-68, H McClutchie 97-27-70, G Roberts 87-16-71.
Putting: H McClutchie 29, I Ngarimu 29, R Ngatai 30, H Miratana 30, G Roberts 30.
Twos: D Goldsmith.
Men's stableford: J Forrester 32, N Dewes 32, P Harrison 32, J Miratana 32, K Waitoa 31, J Devery 30.
COMING UP: SUNDAY, LGU/putting for women, second round of Makarika Cup for men — M Higham v J Forrester, R Smith v J Miratana, K Waitoa v D Cook, P Harrison v N Dewes.
Jeremy Murphy's best round in nearly three years fittingly won him the men's net on Sunday.
Murphy shot 84-18-66 to head the field by three shots.
The field for Tolaga Bay's King of the Coast men's open on July 25 and 26 is full.
SUNDAY — Men's net: J Murphy 66, T Higgs 69, M Grant 70, P Stevenson 70.
Twos: T Reedy, T Higgs.
Putting: M Grant 27, P Stevenson 28, Joe Lincoln 28, R Pomana 28.
COMING UP: SUNDAY, committee meeting 10am, Reeves Cup third round, Bartram Cup men's matchplay second round.
LARRY Green and Kahu Tamanui won the drawn pairs stableford on Sunday.
SUNDAY — Drawn pairs stableford: L Green/K Tamanui 58, M Tuapawa/S Te Rito 57, L Green/U Chambers 55.
COMING UP: SUNDAY, committee meeting 10am, club competition.
GEORGE Brown warmed up for take 2 of the Patutahi men's open this weekend with victory in the senior men's stableford on Sunday.
Brown shot 75-8-67, five clear of runner-up Dwayne Russell.
Ben Cameron won the junior division with 67.
Sai Eder had a successful Friday and Sunday of golf. He won the junior division of the Friday meat pack nine-hole stableford with 24 points and was runner-up to Cameron on countback on Sunday.
The Patutahi men's open, postponed because of wet weather, will be played this weekend.
SUNDAY — Men's net, senior division: G Brown 68, D Russell 73, R Pohatu 73, J Brown 77.
Junior division: B Cameron 67, S Eder 67, P Hokianga 73, P Neilson 73, A Hindmarsh 73.
Women's net: D Johnston 81.
Twos: M Weaver, H Brown.
FRIDAY — Meat pack nine-hole stableford, senior division: M Stock 20, S Pohatu 20, O Willimott 19, R Pohatu 18, D Russell 18.
Junior division: S Eder 24, J Brodie 20, D Dodgshun 19, P Briant 18, C Brown 18.
COMING UP: SATURDAY, Patutahi men's open tournament, featuring Bryan Johnson Memorial Cup, field limited to 100 players, entry fee includes twos and meal, morning tea followed by tee-off at 11am, inquiries to George Brown 027 370 9869.