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TahungaHukanui Brown increased the list of Tahunga men’s course recordholders with an outstanding performance at another popular edition of the annual men’s open on Saturday.
Patutahi member Brown, who recently made his first East Coast Open final, had six birdies in a 4-under 66 that won the gross title.
The score, which included a chip-in for two on the ninth hole, added his name to the course record books.
He joined the late Eric Gordon, Brent Colbert — who donated the Tahunga men’s open trophy 17 years ago — and Andrew Higham.
Butch Castles posted the best overall net, 60, with John Williams (63) second and Kim Mossman (64) third.
Reigning Tahunga senior men’s club champion Spencer Butt (43 points) won the 0-15 stableford and Tolaga Bay patriarch Joe Lincoln (40) the 16-36 stableford.
One of the performances of the day came from Guy Williams. Lightheartedly referred to by some as “the Tahunga thief”, Williams shot 2-over 72 in his first official round of the year.
He wasn’t far away from a hole-in-one on the famous bridge hole, settling for the all-in approach and fourth in the gross.
Results, gross: H Brown 66, W Brown 69, B Colbert 72, G Williams 72.
Net: B Castles 60, J Williams 63, K Mossman 64.
Stableford, 0-15: S Butt 43, P Hakiwai 42, C Taewa 41.
Stableford, 16-36: Joe Lincoln 40, S Kemp 40, S Mohlmann 39.
Stableford, first 9: R Maxwell 21, L Johnson 21, M Smith 21.
Stableford, second 9: M Steele 21, Taine Lincoln 21, G Clapham 21.
Long drive: W Brown (0-10), J Kemp (11-21), S Bridge (22-36).
Best second shot: D Situ (0-10), J Kemp (11-21), S Bridge (22-36).
Approach: H Douglas (0-10), T Sherratt (11-21).
All-in approach: G Williams.
Twos: S Mohlmann, A Kirkpatrick, Joe Lincoln, J Puha, M Smith, G Williams, B Clark, H Douglas, H Brown, B Castles.
Tolaga BayJOEL Lincoln should have kept his mouth shut.
“Well bro, you’re going to have to get a hole-in-one to go extra holes, ” he told partner Mark Watts as they stood on the tee 1-down with one hole to play in their four-ball match on Sunday.
Alongside them on the 128-metre par-3 third hole was Dion “Coastie” Milner, a lone wolf in the match as his partner John Hale was unavailable.
Milner proceeded to hit what would be his last shot of the day — shoving those prophetic but misdirected words down Lincoln’s throat.
Milner and his opponents watched as his wedge-struck ball landed next to the hole, bounced past it, then “took forever” to spin back and into the cup.
“Everyone just erupted,” said Milner, the co-manager of the Tolaga Bay Holiday Park.
It was the former Poverty Bay-East Coast representative’s second ace of his 30-plus-year golfing career.
The first was on April 12, 2015, on the same hole, with the same club.
Milner won the match 2-up and signed for 4-over 72-9-63 to also win the medal competition.
SUNDAY — Coronation Medal-Aotearoa Cup, LGU, silver division: S Robertson 91-16-75.
Bronze: T Waru 107-36-71.
Women’s putting: G Watts 30.
Medal competition: D Milner 63, Tere Lincoln 65, M Brooker 67, B Yates 68, P Stevenson 68.
Men’s putting: M Grant 28, B Yates 28.
Twos: Tere Lincoln, M Brooker, P Stevenson.
Gisborne ParkONE of Gisborne Park’s most historic titles has continued to elude one of the course’s most well-known personalities.
But that could all change on June 3 in the final of the Te Kanawa Cup men’s pairs.
Butch Atkins and Wayne McHugh face Tony Leggett and Brad Reynolds in the handicap matchplay decider.
Atkins, a decades-long member of the Park, has won plenty of titles on his home course but never the Te K.
McHugh, likewise, is yet to taste Te Kanawa glory as opposed to their opposition, both of whom have their names on the trophy.
Reynolds and Leggett advanced to the last two with a high-quality and entertaining 3 and 2 win over father and son combo Danny and Zane Boyle.
After losing the opening two holes, the pair won the next two to square it and went 1-up on the seventh.
The eighth was probably the hole of the day. Leggett, getting a shot, made par-5; Boyle narrowly missed a 15-foot eagle putt for the win; then Reynolds made no mistake with his eagle attempt from 10-foot.
Leggett followed up by chipping in for birdie-4 on the ninth to put them 3-up.
The 12th provided another dramatic moment when Boyle senior slotted a 25-footer for birdie only for Reynolds to reciprocate from 20-foot.
A par from Leggett, getting a shot, on the 15th put them dormie 3-up and a Reynolds par on the 16th sealed the deal.
McHugh surprised himself more than anyone else by bringing his A-game to his and Atkins’ semi against brothers Sel and Quentin Peneha.
“I’ve been struggling to break 100 but I couldn’t do a thing wrong.”
McHugh said Atkins was “as steady as ever” as they won 3 and 2, but he was a little concerned when “Butch nearly kissed me” after I sank a putt on the 16th.
Electrinet Park results, SUNDAY — Men’s stableford: S Phillips 43, J Charles 39 on c/b.
Twos: T Pointon, R Grace.
Women’s stableford: K Hay 39, S Paku 39.
Drawn two: C Pipi.
Village Butchery meat voucher winner: L McFlinn.
Saturday — LGU, silver division: B Walker 73.
Bronze 1: J Akuhata-Nickerson 76.
Bronze 2: A Watene 83.
Twos: B Walker.
Audrey Kelly net: B Walker 73.
Men’s stableford: D Harrison 84-17-67, 41; M Hutton 97-29-68, 40.
Wednesday (May 16) — Women’s net: P Shaw 73.
Drawn two: M Marino.
Tuesday (May 15) — Veteran men’s stableford: P Koorey 40, C Palmer 38, M Hutton 36, P Hogan 36, A Pahina 36.
Twos: P Koorey, A Pahina, E Morley.
The semifinal of the Fletcher Cup men’s pairs is on SATURDAY. The draw is — No.1 tee, 9.12am: R Grace/T Pointon v E Parkin/H Schreiber. 9.18am: J Collier/C Nepe v TBC.
PatutahiTHE Brown boys starred in Te Kani Pere and McKeague Cup qualifying on Sunday.
George Brown won the men’s stableford with 73-11-62, for 44 points — an effort that included the jackpot.
Jace Brown had four birdies in the back nine holes for a 1-under 69 and 41 points.
Jenny Ruru topped the women’s competition with 99-27-72, for 35 points.
SUNDAY — Te Kani Pere and McKeague cup qualifying, round 2, men’s stableford: G Brown 44, J Brown 41, A Hindmarsh 41, C Beattie 40, G Watson 40.
Women’s stableford: J Ruru 35.
Twos: G Brown.
Jackpot: G Brown.
FRIDAY — Meat pack nine-hole stableford, senior division: M Pohatu 21, E Brown sr 20, J Brown 20, C Brown 20, G Tattersfield 19, P Summersby 19.
Junior division: T Cave 23, G Maude 19, I Foxley 19, D Somerton 19, B Tietjen 18, D Scott 17 on c/b.
TUESDAY (May 15) — Women’s net: M Philip 97-25-72, J Ewart 98-23-75, M Alley 97-26-71.
Rickard Cup women’s pairs winners: M Alley/M Philip.
MahiaAN eagle-3 on the 457-metre fifth hole highlighted Wade Wesche’s win in the Carter Cup 1 men’s stableford on Sunday. He shot 78-9-69, for 40 points.
Fairlane Wesche won the women’s stableford with 86-12-74, for 36 points and Ali Marus +2 effort in the Harwood women’s par headed off Trena Smith on countback.
SUNDAY — Carter Cup 1 men’s stableford: Wade Wesche 40, T Hema 39, C Pitman 37.
Women’s stableford: F Wesche 36, L Steel 33.
Harwood women’s par: A Maru +2, T Smith +2.
Te Puia SpringsIRITANA Ngarimu enjoyed her best round of the year and cruised to victory in the Captain’s competition and LGU on Sunday.
Ngarimu carded 90-27-63 to finish five shots clear of the field.
Amos Forrester won the men’s stableford with 82-19-63, for 39 points.
The Te Puia Springs team for the final round of the Endeavour men’s pennants at Poverty Bay on Sunday are D Cook, P Ngarimu, N Dewes, I Sykes, R Walker, J Babbington-Welsh.
SUNDAY — Men’s stableford: A Forrester 39, J Babbington-Welsh 37, N Truman 37, R Smith 35, D Goldsmith 35, N Dewes 35, J Forrester 33, J Devery 33, B Clark 33.
Twos: N Dewes, J Babbington-Welsh, A Forrester, D Goldsmith.
Captain’s competition, LGU, net: I Ngarimu 63, R Ngatai 68, G Roberts 74.
Putting: I Ngarimu 26, R Ngatai 27, G Roberts 32.
COMING UP: SUNDAY, haggle.
Poverty BayPeri Gayford is one matchplay win away from retaining the prestigious Kahlenberg Cup.
Gayford and club president Miggles Shanks yesterday emerged triumphant in a tight Kahlenberg Cup women’s pairs semifinal.
They defeated Mary Allan and Sue Kemp on the 18th, keeping alive Gayford’s hopes of a successful defence of the title she won with Jo Tietjen last year.
Their final opponents are Viv Bell and Jan Steele, who eliminated Odette Thompson and Vicki Fraser 3 and 2.
The final is on Tuesday, May 29.
Two net eagles and a birdie on the par-5 12th inspired Nigel Jones’ division 2 men’s stableford-winning efforts on Sunday. Jones had pars on the ninth (No.2 stroke hole) and 15th (No.1) — holes on which he receives double strokes — in his 87-21-66, for 42 points.
It was Jones’ best round at the Bay since an 85 in May of 2016.
Wednesday — Kahlenberg Cup women’s pairs, semifinals: M Shanks/P Gayford def M Allan/S Kemp, V Bell/J Steele def O Thompson/V Fraser.
Twos: P Gayford
Plate semifinals: L Holmberg/L Shepherd def K Crosby/M Powdrell, T Lewis/F Pell def J MacKinnon/D Murphy.
SUNDAY — Men’s stableford, division 1: P Grogan 40, J van Helden 39, P Kerekere 39, J Situ 39.
Division 2: N Jones 42, P Rickard 39, C Christie 39, A Baldwin 38.
Twos: P Kerekere 2, J Situ, B Morrissey, R Young, P Stewart.
Approach: B. Brown.
Jackpot: P Kerekere.
Saturday — Men’s stableford, division 1: T Goldsmith 36, M Thomas 34, C Poole 34, V Richardson 34.
Division 2: M Stewart 39, D Bush 36, B Allen 36, R Foster 35, P Wauchop 34.
Approach: J McGregor.
Thursday (May 17) — Men’s stableford, division 1: W Mortleman 41, G Clapham 41, N Mackie 39, C Dean 38, J van Helden 36.
Division 2: M Gemmell 38, R Skuse 37, J Pittar 37, D Atkins 37, G Eriksen 35.
Approach: I Murphy.