Vet champs crowned today

GET CLOSE: Paraparaumu Beach member John Han has been one of the form players of the Gisborne East Coast Veteran Golfers Association tournament on the Poverty Bay course this week. He won silverware in the 18-hole net strokeplay on Sunday and advanced to today's final of his group. Pictures by Liam Clayton

A legion of campervans in the Poverty Bay Golf Club carpark is a dead giveaway that veterans are out in force on the fairways this week.

Over 100 actually — a good number of them outsiders — as the Awapuni Links course hosts the Gisborne East Coast Veteran Golfers Association men's and women's open.

Other than a few concerns over the weather — through which the course emerged relatively unscathed — players have enjoyed a course in excellent condition and the usual great camaraderie that accompanies golf among the over-50-year-olds.

Today was finals day for the men, who have been involved in matchplay in nine groups of eight since Monday after an 18-hole strokeplay round on Sunday.

The small women's field have had 18 holes of strokeplay each day. There was also a nine-hole stableford today.

A mixture of locals and visitors made the men's finals, with Cambridge particularly well represented among the travellers, many of them campervanners who have dropped anchor at the course, the nearby motorhome park on Pacific Street or Waikanae Beach Top 10 Holiday Park.

Of the local hopefuls, Don Griffin (Poverty Bay) was in the Group 1 final, John Aitchison (Mahia/PB) in Group 4, Sam Willock (PB) Group 5, Sijtze Mohlmann (Patutahi) and Brian Cox (Electrinet Park) Group 6, Brian Hall (PB) Group 7, and Roger Murphy (PB) and Dave Maloy (Pat) Group 8.

Two trophies were played for in the Sunday strokeplay round.

John Han (Paraparaumu Beach) shot 85-15-70 to win the Endeavour Cup for the best net by a player aged 55 to 69 years. He headed off Steve Phillips (Park) with 84-12-72, and George Brown (PB) with 78-5-73.

Brown produced a contender for shot of the tournament in yesterday's matchplay, sinking a 56-degree wedge from 70 metres for an eagle-2 on the 339-metre third hole.

The Discovery Cup for the best net by a player over 70 years was won by Westown member Patrick Carr with 98-31-67 from Morris Allen (Taupo) with 88-18-70 and Don McFadyen (PB) with 98-27-71.

Following the open, GEC vets' association will start preparing for a huge 2021, highlighted by it hosting the New Zealand Veteran Golfers Association open tournament from December 6 to 10.