GOLF - Gillespie a little shy in strokeplay

Few can match Hastings professional Brian Doyle when it comes to showing one's true provincial colours.
So if you ask the New Zealand Titleist Elite Academy coach who will tee-off at the Royal Adelaide come October his answer is not surprisingly black and white - but not as you would know it.
Not one to mince words, the Hawke's Bay men's coach believes Bay of Plenty's Jared Pender definitely has the wood on Hawke's Bay's Nick Gillespie in the quest to cement the third spot in the national team.
Doyle tells SportToday Pender has had a slight inside running on his protege even before his victory in the Waikato Winter Strokeplay a fortnight ago.
"Pender's win didn't help Nick's chances. Nick has been struggling a bit in the US and he's disappointed ... " the Hastings PGA professional says.
At the crux of the matter, Doyle says, is the fact that Gillespie's forte is matchplay while his rival thrives in strokeplay, which is the foundation of Eisenhower.
"Nick has performed better on that course [Royal Adelaide] than Jared so that will be in the back of the minds of the selectors," he says of the three wise men - BOP's John Laing, Peter Hayes, of Tasman, and Barry Shannon, of Wanganui - who will deliver their verdict on August 15. So why is Gillespie faltering when it comes to strokeplay?
"If I knew the answer he'd be better in strokeplay," says Doyle before elaborating that it was to do with the mindset.
"If you have a poor hole in matchplay it's easier to put it behind you and get yourself in the present tense but in strokeplay players dwell over it more in the past tense."
Doyle, who is firmly in Gillespie's corner when the gong sounds in the game of loyalty, says Pender is often labelled arrogant but more amateurs with his mettle are needed. "Quite often top Kiwis are too negative and simply don't talk themselves up enough," he says alluding to professionals such as Trevor Immelman and legend Jack Nicklaus as masters of the mind games.
Nevertheless, also in Gillespie's favour, Doyle says, is his exposure to top international amateurs as well as courses that can pose myriad challenges.
"We planned for him to go the States because he'd be better off there than be a big fish in the small sea here," he says, emphasising the gulf in standards between New Zealand and other powerhouse nations.
"You can have your Danny Lees and what have you here but out there you'll have 30 Danny Lees," says Doyle, who coaches Gillespie and Ryan Fox among other top players from around the country who have a penchant for gravitating toward his mental approach to the game.