Richard Foon will be a one-man band in this Saturday's semifinals of the Barns-Graham Cup men's pairs at Poverty Bay Golf Club. Photo/ Paul Rickard
It will be brotherly love followed by sibling rivalry at different courses over the next two weeks.
Brothers Mike and Craig Christophers will combine forces at the Poverty Bay course in semifinals day of the Gisborne Motors Barns-Graham Cup men’s pairs on Saturday.
The next weekend, they will be enemies in the matchplay final of Te Kanawa Cup men’s handicap pairs - Mike with Matt Downie; Craig with Matt Henwood.
The Christophers boys failed to qualify for the BG Cup top 32 and were relegated to the Plate competition, so Saturday will serve more as a warm-up for the real deal - the Te K, a trophy with history that dates back to the days of the Turanganui golf course, where Harry Barker Reserve is now located.
Park club captain Mike and Downie, for the second match in a row, required extra holes to get past No 1 seeds Pete Tamatea and Darren Kahukoti in their semifinal at the weekend.
Christophers and Downie were 3-up with three to play but Tamatea and Kahukoti dug deep to claim all three holes and send it to sudden-death.
A relieved Christophers and Downie finally got the job done on the first extra hole.
That stormy voyage was contrasted by plain sailing for Craig Christophers and Henwood, who stayed on course to add the 2025 Te K to their 2021 title.
In a battle of high school teachers played on Monday, Lytton High’s Christophers and Henwood dished out a 5 and 4 defeat to Gisborne Girls’ High counterparts Ian Loffler and Steve Webb.
The Turanganui Cup and Fletcher Cup subsidiary finalists have also been sorted.
James Witika, who scored his first hole-in-one on the Park’s 155-metre second last Wednesday, and Steve Phillips play Junior Akurangi and Tim Beattie in the Turanganui final.
Last year’s Te K winners Heath Tupara and Michael Bond play Adrian Wyrill and Tane McGuire in the Fletcher final.
COMING UP: AUGUST 30-31, Treemarkables Men’s Strokeplay 54 Hole Open, 18 holes then 9 holes on day 1, 9 holes then 18 holes on day 2, enquiries/entries to golf club (06)8679849 or email competitions@gpgc.co.nz
Strange things happen in the Twilight Zone world of golf.
Astronomical odds are defied, miracles are witnessed, the seemingly impossible loses its “im”.
So when Richard Foon tees off on his own in a Gisborne Motors Barns-Graham Cup men’s pairs battle against the odds on Saturday, he would do well not to think about what he hasn’t got - in this case partner Neville West by his side - but what he has ... a chance.
And he could draw inspiration from the trail he and West have blazed to get to the last four of the coveted handicap matchplay series ... an expedition that started at the very bottom of Everest, passed base camp and is only a short but acutely steep climb from “knocking the b***ard off”.
Problem is there is storm ahead of the 32nd and bottom-qualifying Foon, minus his mate, who is out of town.
Lying in wait in Saturday’s semifinal are Neil Mackie and Paul Mullooly, who have already conquered the mountain, having won the title in 2017.
Foon and West continued their “giant-killing” charge last Saturday with a 3 and 2 dismissal of Colin Simpson and Carl Carmody, whose “quiet confidence” going into the match was not matched by their performance. “Bloody terrible,” was Simpson’s succinct appraisal.
Mackie and Mullooly, seasoned BG campaigners, were 16th-hole victors over Nigel Jones and Lindsay Hunt.
Saturday’s other semifinal pits Chris Shaw and Phil Allan against two players who truly embody the enigmatic beauty of the game - Paul Rickard and Brad Morgan.
“Rickorgan”, as they have become affectionately known as a combo, have won several crowns together, including their world-famous-in-Gisborne Enterprise Cars Poverty Bay open foursomes gross triumph in 2018.
But their Forrest Gump “box of chocolates” play means you never know which “Rickorgan” is going to turn up.
In the quarter-finals, they rocketed to a 4-up lead after five holes against John Williams and Clive Dean in an eventual 4 and 3 win.
The next day, Rickard “called for an ambulance” after firing 111 for 16 Stableford points in the pro’s comp while Morgan’s Joe 90 card featured an 11 on the 12th.
Shaw has BG pedigree. He won it back in 2013 with Scott Crago, and he and Allan made the final last year only to endure the long walk back to the clubhouse from the 13th green as runners-up.
Shaw and Allan beat the highly fancied Dave Jenkins and Rod Norman in their quarter-final played on Friday.
Saturday also features the semifinals of the consolation trophies - the Bryan Cup (for first and second-round losers) and Barns-Graham Plate (for non-qualifiers).
All finals are on Sunday.
Among the Bryan Cup semifinalists will be Simon Jeune, who, last Thursday, shot red figures for the second week running.
Jeune, however, described his 3-under 69-1-68 as “bittersweet”.
Following birdies on the fifth, eighth and 10th holes, an eagle-2 on the 13th and another birdie on 14, Jeune stood on the 15th tee 6-under the card.
He proceeded to make double-bogey 6 on the 15th and an out-of-bounds bogey-5 on the 17th before parring the 18th for his second round in the 60s this year.
His 40 points fittingly won the division 1 Stableford.
WEDNESDAY - LGU, silver: L. Holmberg 91-15-76.
Bronze 1: V. Bell 97-23-74.
Bronze 2: C. Skuse 113-29-84.
Twos: L. Holmberg.
TUESDAY - Veterans’ Stableford: K. Goldsmith 37, K. Marshall 37, L. Foster 36, P. Rickard 36, C. Hensley 34, P. McKenzie 34.
Hidden hole: V. Richardson.
MONDAY - Women’s chicken Stableford: J. McCafferty 33, D. Kirkpatrick 31, J. Clayton 28.
SUNDAY - Men’s Stableford, division 1: J. Willoughby 34, K. Houkamau 32, A. White 32.
Division 2: K. Marshall 37, N. Jones 3, A. Lawler 30.
Twos: C. Carmody, A. Hayward.
Approach: C. Carmody.
SATURDAY - Gisborne Motors Barns-Graham Cup and Bryan Cup men’s pairs, twos: N. Mackie, C. Christophers, C. Taewa, B. Morgan.
Approach: C. Christophers.
THURSDAY (July 3) - Men’s Stableford, division 1: S. Jeune 40, P. Butler 38, C. Dean 35.
Division 2: T. Williams 37, J. Williams 34, J. Pittar 33.
Twos: J. Aitchison, P. Butler, S. Jeune.
Approach: P. Butler.
It wasn’t exactly revenge, but Ashley Hindmarsh did sort of get one back on cousin Tom Hindmarsh on Sunday.
Less than a couple of weeks after losing to Tom as the last two standing in the winter 9-hole shootout final, Ashley beat him by one point in winning the Sunday Stableford with 37 points.
SUNDAY - Stableford: A. Hindmarsh 37, T. Hindmarsh 36, D. Russell 36.
FRIDAY - Meat pack 9-hole Stableford, senior division: R. Mottart 20, D. Russell 18, G. Hawea 16, P. Summersby 16, Beau Toa 16.
Junior division: P. Briant 21, B. Tietjen 19, M. King 18, T Sharp 18.
A birdie combo in a back-nine blitz earned Mark Higham top dog status in the men’s Stableford on Sunday.
Higham carded 73-10-63, for 39 points, including a back nine of 33 that featured twos on the 12th and 16th holes a birdie-3 on the 17th.
SUNDAY - Men’s Stableford: M. Higham 73-10-63, 39; J Forrester 82-16-66, 36.
Women’s Stableford: I. Ngarimu 97-27-70, 34.
Twos: M. Higham (2).
Matching rounds by Rewi Castle and Gary McLean topped the field in Sunday’s net competition.
Castle and McLean both shot 84-15-60, but the victory went to Castle on countback.
SUNDAY - Net competition: R. Castle 69, G. McLean 69.
Twos: B. Yates, W. Aupouri, M. Watts.
Approach: W. Aupouri.
She might not know, but Audrey Tamanui-Nunn ended a nine-month drought when she signed for 99 on Sunday.
It was October 6 of last year when Tamanui-Nunn last shot under 100 - a memorable 92 that included two twos.
Sunday’s wasn’t as spectacular, but her 99-29-70, for 38 points, was rewarded with the women’s Stableford honours.
SUNDAY - Men’s Stableford: S. Ritchie 36, K. Tamanui 30.
Women’s Stableford: A. Tamanui-Nunn 38, Andrea Reeves 35.
COMING UP: SUNDAY, club competition.