GOLF - Ready for big club battle

Although hardly a regular on the golf course these days, it's hardly surprising to see Kevin Billington leading the Sherwood Park team at the New Zealand club team's championship in Ashburton tomorrow.
Overcoming his unusual beginnings in the game, the 52-year-old has become one of the most long-serving and consistent representative golfers Northland has ever produced.
"I got into it by accident, none of my family except for my grandfather played and, when he died, my dad ended up with his golf clubs so I dug them out of the shed for something to do. And after I lost all the balls, I started hitting rocks instead," he laughs.
Things may not have progressed much further but for the intervention of Geoff Robinson, who happened to be installing machinery in the family farm's cowshed.
Robinson spotted the then 15-year-old terrorising the cows in the paddocks and invited him out for a round of golf.
"I had no real appreciation of how difficult it was and I hit 114 ... but I still enjoyed it. Anyhow, a year later he was back doing the same job and he asked me if I wanted another game and, by time I finished that round, I was stuck on it," he said.
He discovered a knack for the game and was soon a top Northland amateur that many people thought would go on to play professional golf.
He admits it was always a thought at the back of his mind. "I played a few Pro-Am events, as well as the New Zealand Open a few times and the step up from being a good amateur to becoming an average pro is huge, people just don't appreciate how good those guys are," he said.
With two of the country's top young amateurs, Gary-John Hill and Dale Clarke, in the Sherwood Park team, Billington is fired up about the team's chances in the 36-hole tournament tomorrow.
"This is without doubt the strongest club team I've ever been in and that's got a lot to do with why I made myself available ... if everyone plays to their potential, we'll win it, there's no doubt about that," he said.
While Billington doesn't play as much as he'd like to these days, he doesn't think he's too far off his game. "I feel that if I got out there and hit practice balls for a week, I'm sure that my game would be just as strong as it ever was.
"To me it's just like riding a bike - if you give me a full swing at something and I'll hit it as well as I ever did or probably better, because I don't try and smash it anymore," he said.
Former Northland No.1 Jeremy Hay is a handy fourth in the team, which arrived in Ashburton last night and are due to play a practice round at the Brandon Golf Course today.
The Sherwood Park team won the Northland qualifying tournament at a canter last month and will take on 16 other regional qualifiers for the overall national title in competition tomorrow. The three best gross scores in both rounds count toward a final aggregate.