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The Bay of Plenty Masters will have a new champion on Sunday afternoon.
That's because the reigning one will be making his way back from Gisborne to Mt Maunganui, possibly with a different trophy in the back seat — the Keiha Cup for Poverty Bay Men's Open.
Craig Van Der Nagel cuts a fairly lonely figure among the visitors for the 2022 Emerre and Hathaway-sponsored Open which tees off on the Awapuni Links course tomorrow morning.
There's a couple of reasons for that.
Plenty of outside players have once again been attracted to the popular three-day tournament, but only a couple look likely challengers for the ultimate honour.
Among those missing are regulars such as brothers Richard and Andrew Wright and locally-connected Tim Neill.
And then there are those who originate from Gisborne and while not living here any more, are viewed as local lads — in particular, seven-time PB Open champion Waka Donnelly (now in Napier) and 1995 winner David Solomann (Auckland).
Van Der Nagel, living in the Mount but a member of his hometown course Te Puke, will appear in his second PB Open — 21 years after his first.
A nephew of former Poverty Bay-East Coast representative Collin Jeffrey, Van Der Nagel top-qualified at the 2001 Open with rounds of even-par 72, 78.
He was eliminated by local Bernie Martin 2 and 1 in the semifinals of the matchplay. Martin lost to late Poverty Bay great Eric Gordon in the final — the seventh and last time the-then 58-year-old Gordon won the title.
That perhaps makes for a bit of unfinished business for Van Der Nagel, and despite having to forgo his defence of the BoP Masters at Whakatane, he cannot wait to play on a course he says is his favourite.
“I'm really looking forward to coming down and playing this again,” he said. “I've been talking it up to everyone.
“I hear the course is looking good. It's always been my favourite.
“The last time I played in this I would have been 18 or 19 . . . I'm really looking forward to catching up with familiar faces. Everyone in Gisborne makes me feel like I have a second family when I'm there.”
He goes in with form on his side and extra incentive to play well.
“I'm now of masters age (over-40) so the goal is to make the Freyberg (masters national interprovincial) this year (representing Bay of Plenty).”
Van Der Nagel's Te Puke team were runners-up to Omanu in the Bay of Plenty championship pennants series — Te Puke's best-ever finish. He won the club champs strokeplay, was second at the Walton Masters (with rounds of 4-under 68, 75) earlier in the year, and was second at the Springfield Masters (1-under 69, 68) a couple of months ago.
With Jeffrey — an assistant greenkeeper at Poverty Bay course — on his bag, his title hopes will get an injection of local knowledge.
Van Der Nagel is in the “feature” group (teeing off No.10 at 8.44am) for the 36 holes of strokeplay qualifying tomorrow.
All of the other three — William Brown, Anaru Reedy and Peter Kerekere — have won the Open.
Electrinet Park member Reedy goes in as the defending champion and with the chance of achieving a feat that may well never happen again — two Poverty Bay Open wins in the same year.
The 2021 PB Open was postponed to March of this year. Reedy beat two-time Open winner Kerekere (2015, 2016) in the final.
Brown, the Open winner in 2012 and 2020, would be the favourite if the TAB were giving odds.
No one knows the course better than head greenkeeper Brown and he goes in on the back of retaining the senior men's club championship crown.
One player who recently had the pleasure of being in his four said the strength of Brown's game was that he had no weaknesses.
Kerekere on song is a class act and rates a strong chance of joining the Open title treble group.
Another of tomorrow's prominent fours are 2019 champion Simon Jeune, 2014 and 2017 champion Andrew Higham, Dwayne Russell, who will be flying the Patutahi flag, and Solomann, a member of Auckland club Whitford Park.
Open stalwart Donnelly will have another shot at equalling Frank Gordon's record eight Open crowns and ending a title drought dating back to 2010.
His four includes Glenn Morley, who poses a genuine threat if his football-battered body of yesteryear holds out over an intense three days of tournament play.
The Open features 112 golfers from Dunedin to Auckland and follows the PB Women's Open, which finished yesterday.
It will once again come to an entertaining climax on Saturday afternoon when up to seven qualifiers vie for a winner-take-all $1000 in the BDO/Emerre and Hathaway Nearest To Pin Challenge.
Rain is in the forecast, particularly for Friday, which could see players contend with heavy showers.
The Poverty Bay course is in supreme condition, with one long-time member saying it is the best he has ever seen it.
Two rounds of strokeplay qualifying are followed by matchplay in seven divisions.