Carmichael outguns rivals

GOOD FORM: Josh Carmichael made short work of his rivals at the Telecom Hub Martinborough pro-am tournament.PHOTO/FILE

North Harbour professional Josh Carmichael made short work of his rivals at the Telecom Hub Martinborough pro-am tournament.

Carmichael was in stunning form on Tuesday, returning a round of 63, four better than runner-up Josh Geary, who made a brave attempt to repeat his success in the Masterton-Eketahuna tourney held over the weekend.

Chipping in for an eagle on the first hole gave Carmichael a flying start and he also birdied the second, seventh and ninth holes on the front side.

There were a couple of hiccups at the fourth and sixth holes where he made bogeys but he was still able to make the halfway point four under the card.

On the back nine, Carmichael went to five under with a birdie on the short par five 11th and a succession of pars followed until the 17th where he made his eagle putt to go to seven under.

And then came the coup de grace on the 18th when he holed a 100m nine iron shot into the breeze for his third eagle of the round and a nine under 63.

Leading professional scores:

63: Joshua Carmichael (North Harbour); 67: Josh Geary (Mount Maunganui); 68: Douglas Holloway (Hawke's Bay); 69: Richard Lee (North Harbour), Troy Ropiha (Taupo), Harry Bateman (Masterton), Dean Sipson (Mount Maunganui).

Meanwhile, the prize list has been published for the DHL Global Forwarding and Recreational Services Masterton-Eketahuna pro-am where 18 holes were played at Eketahuna last Saturday and a further 18 holes at Lansdowne played on Sunday.

Geary led the professionals home with rounds of 65 and 67 for a 10 under par score of 132.

Ex-Masterton player Harry Bateman was three shots back on 135 after rounds of 69 and 66 and Doug Holloway (Hawke's Bay) and Carmichael tied for third on 136.

Local professionals Joel Macklin and Shaun Hewitt tied for 13th place on 141 with Macklin shooting 68 and 73 and Hewitt 73 and 68.

The amateur team competition was won by the Old Awatuna Rams, comprising three well-known identities, former All Black coach and captain Sir Brian Lochore, former Wairarapa College principal Alwyn Williams and Masterton general practitioner Aage Terpstra.

They partnered Fijian professional Vikrant Chandra over the two days and came up with 258 points.

The Why Shearing team of Dave Mitchell, Regan Duffy, Gary Marenzi and professional Hogan Cho were seven points back, followed by the day one leaders, Greenlees Print, who were David and Paul Greenlees, Tony Roseingrace and last year's leading individual scorer among the professionals, Richard Lee.

Another highlight was a hole-in-one by Rob Cameron and that undoubtedly helped his team, Free To a Good Home, to fourth placing.

Celebrity sports broadcaster Murray Deaker entertained a packed clubhouse at Lansdowne on Friday night, often having the audience in fits of laughter as he told many humorous stories about his broadcasting career.