In reaction to his shot, Peneha lifted his club to the acknowledgement of the “old fullahs” he was playing with, then exchanged some high-fives.
Having been “inches” away from aces on all the par-3s at the Park in the past, there was a sense of inevitability of breaking the duck, enhanced by flashes of brilliance.
A round of even-par 72 on February 20, a 3-under 69 a month later that included an eagle-3 on the ninth and a string of mid-70s showed his game was on song.
The day before his perfect shot (April 26) he delivered another 69, with birdies on the sixth and seventh holes, and an eagle on the eighth.
Then came the ace in a round of 72.
The excitement level didn’t drop far.
On April 30, after a triple bogey-7 on the sixth hole, he had birdies from the seventh to ninth holes and 16th to 18th — six in all in a round of 72.
The next day came a roller-coaster 77 with holes ranging from three double bogeys to consecutive eagle-3s on the eighth and ninth.
Peneha crushed a drive down the 455-metre eighth, then smacked a pitching wedge to three feet from the hole.
On the ninth, he hit another good drive into the wind and “smoked” a 3-wood to about five feet.
Peneha, a member of the famous Horouta side who won the Lee Bros Shield premier club rugby title in 1995, got into golf through his father Jack — a former Poverty Bay rugby representative and stalwart of Waikohu Golf Club.
He still has Jack’s clubs, to which he holds great sentimental attachment and uses “now and again” for old times’ sake.
Peneha loves golf for a couple of main reasons.
“I’ve made a lot of mates. When I started I only knew a couple of people but as the weeks went on, the bros introduced me to other people, and as the years have gone on, I now know everyone.”
And then there’s the challenge of “beating the course”.
“Going out and trying your best to beat the course . . . there are plenty of times I’ve failed and the odd time I’ve beaten it; that’s rare.
“Now I’ve got the swing sussed, I’m rapt.”
