Poverty Bay - East Coast golf roundup

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Poverty BayTHE importance of a referee for the big occasion was underlined as Andrew Higham claimed a sixth Poverty Bay senior men’s club championship crown on Saturday afternoon.

Higham defeated top qualifier William Brown 1-up in a 36-hole matchplay final featuring plenty of good golf despite the wind, the odd mishap and what turned out to be a crucial ruling.

Brown led 3-up at the lunchtime break and was 2-up after 27 holes.

Higham birdied the 13th (31st of the match) to reduce the deficit to one but it looked like Brown was going to make that up immediately on the 14th when Higham appeared to have lost his ball in deep rough on the left-hand side of the hole.

After a couple of minutes of searching for it, Higham conceded the ball was lost and was heading off to play his provisional when the ball was found by spectator Collin Jeffrey.

Referee Duncan Bush had the watch on and because the ball was located before the regulation five minutes search time had elapsed, he ruled that Higham was able to play it.

The players halved the holes in bogey-5s and Bush’s call was later justified in a Decisions on the Rules of Golf book.

Bush felt the shot that came back to haunt Brown was an errant drive off the 16th — his ball finding the water and Higham making a pressure-free birdie to square the match.

They halved the 17th and Bush was needed again on the 18th when Brown drove his ball into the practice net area.

The immovable obstruction rule allowed him to drop his ball a club length from the nearest point of relief, which meant he had to hit over the net.

He landed his second shot short of the green then chipped five metres past the hole. Higham was on in regulation, two-putted for his four and Brown missed his par putt.

Bush commended the play of both finalists and said he got to witness some impressive and dramatic golf from a pair who are sure to be in the mix at the upcoming Poverty Bay Open.

Brown still has the chance to win a senior crown in 2018. He faces Hukanui Brown in the Patutahi club champs final, postponed from last Sunday after wet weather forced the closure of the course.

Higham has the opportunity of yet another senior club championship double. The semifinals are this weekend, with Higham up against Wade Wesche.

In other club champs finals on Saturday, Neil Mackie successfully defended the intermediate men’s title.

Mackie trailed Glenn Burnside 2-down after 18 holes but came back to win 2 and 1.

Mackie quickly made up the deficit in the afternoon round, including chipping in on the sixth (24th hole) for two, and there was never more than two between them

Former Everton football team professional Ray Veall backed up his favouritism for the junior men’s with a 6 and 5 crushing of Chelsea fan Ron Young in their 18-hole final.

Young arrived at the Gisborne Thistle football club prize-giving that night to the sight of a large sign displaying the result.

He steadfastly believes this is the only time Everton will enjoy success against Chelsea this year.

John Rouse won the endeavour men’s final 3 and 2 but admitted that his opponent Phil Wauchop played better golf than him.

He didn’t elaborate, preferring just to say “I got there”.

Miggles Shanks and June MacKinnon were in a class of their own in the Taste One/First Light Frozen 27-hole women’s Canadian foursomes tournament yesterday.

The pair carded 100.25 to win the Saunders Salver for overall net, well clear of two pairs on 105.75 — Marg Colebourne and Vicki Fraser and Karen McDonald and Pat Joseph.

Wednesday — Taste One/First Light Frozen 27-hole women’s Canadian foursomes, Saunders Salver for overall net: M Shanks/J MacKinnon 100.25 from M Colebourne/V Fraser 105.75, K McDonald/P Joseph 105.75, G Young/MJ Bloem 107.5, M Allan/J Tietjen 107.5, A Witters/K Willis 109.5, L Holmberg/J Kerr 110, S Spence/A Ward 110.75, K Crosby/P Dymock 113.75, V Harnett/P Zame 114.5, J Steele/P Wanklyn 118.

9-holers’ net, division 1: A Sutton/T Allan 34.25, F Allen/M Shanks 36.5.

Division 2: R Dymock/M Proudfoot 34.5.

Twos: M Shanks/J MacKinnon, L Holmberg/J Kerr.

Approaches: M Shanks (0-25), V Fraser (26+), T Allan (9-holers).

Closest to line on 18th: M Shanks (0-25), I McKinnon (26+), J Alderson (9-holers).

SUNDAY — Association Booth Shield fundraiser, women’s net: Janice Utting 74.

Women’s gross: M Colebourne 93.

Women’s stableford: J MacKinnon 37, V Fraser 34, V Fletcher 32, R Taewa 30.

Men’s net: N Jones 67.

Men’s gross: W Brown 74.

Men’s stableford: N Hansen 40.

Men’s stableford, division 1: P Butler 38, G Morley 37, T Goldsmith 36, Z Boyle 35, T Teneti 35, P Kerekere 35.

Division 2: M Callaghan 40, R Morley 39, D Griffin 38, M Norman 37, J van Helden 36, D Patumaka 34, G Marchbank 34.

Division 3: T Sherratt 39, L Pollitt 38, J Williams 37, G Watson 37, A Hindmarsh 37, P Rickard 37, S Bridge 37, T Cave 36, T Brodie 36.

Women’s approach: V Fletcher.

Men’s approach: C Beattie.

Twos: S Andreassen, N Hansen, T Green, C Beattie, G Maude, M Callaghan.

SATURDAY — Men’s stableford, division 1: V Richardson 35, A Hayward 33.

Division 2: D Wright 35, D Mettrick 31.

Twos: V. Richardson.

Approach: A Abrahams.

The draw for the 125th anniversary 18-hole ambrose tournament on SATURDAY is — No.1 tee: M Colebourne, V Fraser, J MacKinnon, A Ward; M Smith, M Reynolds, B Proudfoot, J Rouse.

No.2: D Tucker, W Thompson, M Lunny, C Stowers; Touchstone 4.

No.3: C Edwards, D Carroll, B Eaglesome, H. Bro; J Steele, J Tietjen, M Allan, P Wanklyn.

No.4: T Burton, B Katene, S Manukau, I Bramley; D Brown, P Brown, M Smith, H Kirkpatrick.

No.5: B Lewis, B McEachen, A Cassidy, H Tahuri; R Third, R Miller, K Crosby, B Miller.

No.6: Reserved, Reserved - Cenvus 4.

No.7: R Foon, W Baty, D Coulter, W Chung; G Burnside, B Morrissey, W Mackey, C Payn.

No.8: D Watts, B Moore, M Bousfield, F Mitchell; Wairoa Lions 4.

No.9: D Brown, V McQueen, C Wesche, F Wesche; Fay Allen 4.

No.10: L Fletcher, R Fletcher, C Poole, T McDonald; P Dymock, S Spence, V Bell, A Witters.

No.11: A Kirkpatrick, D. Kirkpatrick, M. Stevens, L. Foster; P Hakiwai, S Toa, A Nother, A Nother.

No.12: P Rickard, B Morgan, L Pollitt, K Daniels; J Phillips, R Taewa, C Taewa, C Jeffrey.

No.13: P Grogan, K White, R Johnstone, S Johnstone; T Hall, D Hall, M Hall, A Nother.

No.14: E Ball, L Ball, S Kemp, G Kemp; R. Foon x 4.

No.15: P Griffin, L Daniels, J Hall, S Armstrong; Newman x 4.

No.16: L Holmberg, R Gibson, J Burnett, G Bates; J Underhill, M Pickles, K Green, T Paku.

No.17: A Hayward, T Costello, R Marko, M Jones; R Young, P Stewart, N Jones, G Young.

No.18: R Kelly, D Mettrick, P Gretton, R Veall; P Williams, T Williams, M Dodgshun, H Williams.

Te Puia SpringsJAMES Forrester produced his best 18 holes of the year on the way to winning the intermediate men’s club championship final on Sunday.

Forrester defeated Henry Rasmussen in the 36-hole matchplay final, his efforts including 78-20-58, for 44 points, which won him the men’s stableford.

Robyn Ngatai went one better than last year in beating Iritana Ngarimu in the intermediate women’s final.

John Babbington-Welsh beat John Puha for the junior men’s honours.

Defending junior women’s champion Aomihi Cook won the junior women’s title by default over Hiria McClutchie.

SUNDAY — Club championship finals, intermediate women: R Ngatai def I Ngarimu.

Junior women: A Cook won by default.

Intermediate men: J Forrester def H Rasmussen.

Junior men: J Babbington-Welsh def J Puha.

Men’s stableford: J Forrester 44, J Babbington-Welsh 39, D Cook 35, N Dewes 34, H Rasmussen 34, J Puha 34, J Devery 32, P Harrison 32, P Ngarimu 31, B Clark 31.

Twos: P Ngarimu.

Women’s stableford: I Ngarimu 36, G Roberts 30.

Approaches: G Roberts (on 6), M Puke (on 9).

COMING UP: SUNDAY, haggle.

Gisborne ParkThe men’s club championships, postponed from last weekend, will be held this weekend. The draw is — SATURDAY, No.1 tee, 9am: J Charles v P Wellard. 9.06: Z Boyle v T Teneti, T Donovan v J Bright. 9.12: A Chandra v S Peneha, P Cameron v B Reynolds. 9.18: S Phillips v R Walford, T File v D Craven. 9.24: D Boyle v G McKinnon, T Reynolds v B Huhu. 9.30: P Koorey v A Hira. 9.36: J Collier v R Grace, N Jones v W Tamatea. 9.42: B Cox v D Tombleson, T Leggett v P Tamatea. 9.48: R Maxwell v M Emery.

TahungaTahunga’s closed closing day is on Sunday.

There is an 18-hole competition teeing off at 11am and a 9-hole competition (alternate shots or play your own ball) at 1.30pm.

There will also be a special tree planting at 4.30pm in memory of life member Alec Petherbridge, followed by a barbecue and prize-giving.

Current and former members are welcome.

For more information, contact Tom Sherratt 867-0807 or Casey Maddock 867-0234.

WaikohuHEAVY conditions dictated scoring on Sunday, with 33 points enough for Uma Chambers to win the men’s stableford and Audrey Tamanui-Nunn’s 34 topping the women.

The club’s open closing day is on Saturday, teeing off at 11.30am.

SUNDAY — Men’s stableford: U Chambers 33, L Green 28.

Women’s stableford: A Tamanui-Nunn 34, E Wynyard 33.

COMING UP: SATURDAY, Waikohu open closing day, Canadian mixed pairs and men’s sections, 11.30am tee-off; SUNDAY, free day.

MahiaA cold southerly put paid to a full round of golf on Sunday.

Nine holes was all that was manageable and the competition was least putts.

Wayne Wesche won with 15 on countback from Pete Bremner while Chris “Gid” Pitman got a two.

Pitman is also the Carter Cup champion for 2018 while Wesche won the plate.

Club championship finals are on Saturday from 9am.

SeniorsPATUTAHI’S Sijtze Mohlman won the Gisborne East Coast Veteran Golfers’ Society’s rain-affected August par round played at Gisborne Park.

Forty players turned out for the round, which was switched from Poverty Bay the previous week because of the weather.

Mohlmann won with 91-24-67 for a plus-5 score. Hector White was second on +4 and fellow Park member Barry Cox was third on +3 on countback from another Parkie, Evan Parkin.

Te Puia Springs’ Peter Harrison remains top of the Player of the Year standings after seven rounds but only by the narrowest of margins.

Harrison has 30 points, with Cox a point back in second and Parkin third on 28. Poverty Bay pair Dave Mettrick and Bernie Rothschild are fourth-equal on 24.

There are four events to go.

The next GEC vets’ competition is the Croskery Tankard four-ball best-ball at Gisborne Park on Tuesday, September 18, teeing off at 10am.

The annual trip to Tolaga Bay follows on October 9. Those taking their cars will receive $20 towards their costs if they take another vet with them. Assemble at the Poverty Bay carpark for a 9am departure.

Entries are open for the Sean Shivnan Pharmacy veteran men’s and women’s opens at Poverty Bay from November 4 to 7.

There is a strokeplay net round for the men on Sunday at which the Endeavour Cup (55 to 69 years) and Discovery Salver (70yrs and over) will be up for grabs.

Matchplay in groups of eight seeded on handicap will run from the Monday to Wednesday.

The women will have 18-hole and 9-hole stableford competitions from Monday to Wednesday, including overall winners’ prizes.

For more information contact John Fricker 022-658-4788 or pbseniors@outlook.com; Brigit McIldowie 867-7885; or Poverty Bay manager Dave Keown 867-4402.