GOLF - Scramble victory comes after a fall

Former Hawke's Bay professional James Morgan has etched his name in the annals of golfing history.
The Taupo Golf Club professional returned from Queensland a fortnight ago with three other club amateurs as the first New Zealanders to ever win the annual Holden Scramble in its 16-year history.
Perhaps what's more intriguing is the inspiration behind Morgan, 21 handicapper Lawrie Chandler, 27 handicapper Rozlyn Skinner and 13 handicapper David MacDonald's 5 1/2 shot victory over a Queensland outfit called Robina Woods at the exquisite Novotel Twin Waters Resort in the Sunshine Coast from December 1-3.
Days before the lower North Island qualifiers jetted off across the ditch National PGA events organiser Jim Clelland (pictured right), who also organised the Holden Scramble and was supposed to join Morgan's team, had had an accident at his Taupo home.
"Jim was moving houses. He was throwing a table from the balcony of his home into a skip below but he followed the table into the skip," Morgan, a former Hastings Golf Club professional who moved to Taupo almost a decade ago, told SportToday.
"It was a life-threatening situation and that he might not have got through, we were told before we flew off," said Morgan, who was visiting Clelland at the intensive care unit of the Waikato Hospital in Hamilton on Monday.
"It's great to see that he's recovering and in much better condition than when we lastsaw him," Morgan said.
Six New Zealand teams from various regions traditionally compete with 30 other Australian ones in the ambrose tournament where a PGA tour professional joins each team to make a team of five after they make the cut of 16. New South Welshman Kurt Barnes was the addition to Morgan's team.
The Taupo team were tied for the lead after the first round but on the second day they opened up a 2 1/2 shot lead.
"We got a crystal trophy each but it's just an unbelievable time at the five-star resort. You play four rounds of golf using carts and get three meals a day as well as gala dinners," said Morgan, who five years ago qualified for the play-offs at the same venue with a Hastings Golf Club trio of Ian McGarvie, Ron Robbie and Dave Harley.
"That five years ago still sticks in my memory but to win the event is something extra special.
"Everything clicked for us. If someone played a bad shot then someone else did something special to pick things up from there."
Morgan also thanked his wife, Jackie, and Chandler's wife, Carol, for "running around with bags of ice" in scorching days.
So what was Morgan's cut in the prizemoney for professionals?
"Oh it's not even worth mentioning. Let's just say our bar bill was enormous, taking in the wives and all that."