Christiansen turns up the heat

Bill Christiansen put in his best round for some time by leading the pack at Mahunga on Saturday. The club competition was a medal round and Bill comfortably took at group 3 with a nett 61 to show age is no barrier when it comes to golf.
Second in group 3 was another veteran in Ray Loader with a nett 64 followed by Tom Tiopira on 66 who took 3rd on the count back. Carl Cocks is coming into form at the right time and led group 2 with a nett 64, three shots ahead of Roger Hoar who had a nett 67 followed by Neville Biel with a nett 69. Group 1 was the tightest group with Darryl Coley again to the fore this week taking 1st on the count back from Jeremy Harp with a nett 68.
Alf Puhara atoned for his uncharacteristic round last week to take 3rd with nett 69. Holes in 2 were scored by Anita Karaitiana, Nukey Gordon and Darryl Coley. The nearest the pins were a Darryl Coley benefit with Darryl taking out Solway Pie Shop no. 1 and no. 6. Kingi Ruhe took no. 3, Fred Brittain no. 8 Solway Butchery, Carl Cocks no. 10 and Anita Karaitiana no. 17.
Sunday was relatively quiet with the Junior Pennants playing at Masterton and the Marquis Shield team playing at Featherston. The mens competition was a par round and Paul Haxton blitzed the field with a score of 9 up. There were three players on 5 up with Frankie Martin, Robbie McKelvey, and Tom Tiopira consolidating his previous days form. Holes in two were scored by Peter Tennant, Shane Stewart, Paul Haxton and Tom Tiopira. Lukie's Lucky Last went to Colin McCauley who was all square.
The Ladies played the Mills Cup which is a drawn partners four ball medal round. First were Jean Bayly and Cilva Richmond with a nett 60 followed by Ev Munn and Ngaire Graham with a nett 62.
The Junior Pennants are playing some top golf and showed that with a good win over Masterton 1 at Masterton on Sunday scoring an average of a little over 41 points for the four team members Jake Gibbs again showed his hand to the handicapper by scoring 46 stableford points.
This was his third round in a week where he has collected a truckload of stableford points, scoring 51 playing Junior Pennants Sunday week ago and then coming out last Wednesday in the Heart Foundation Charity Tournamnent and scoring 52 points, followed by his 46 on Sunday. Jake Paulsen also impressed with 43 points. This week the Juniors play Masterton 2 at Mahunga and will be looking for Jake to carry on his good form.
The Marquis Shield team again got off to a slow start to the competition this year at Featherston with a 4? to 7? loss to Masterton and gave the selectors a headache in the process. Raymond Cocks as usual showed his experience with a good win for the seniors while new comer to Marquis Shield competition, Jeremy Harp impressed with a win in his match for the seniors.
Wayne Evans and Darryl Coley had sturdy wins for the intermediates, and Maurice O'Reilly picked up the scraps for the Juniors in his match, recording a solid half.
That was the first round and with the next round not until the first weekend in April the team have some time to try and consolidate their place in the team, while others have the opportunity to impress the selectors and show that they deserve a spot.
Meanwhile the Veterans played a stableford round on Tuesday and in the mens competition, group 1 was taken out by Peter Campbell with 38 points with Bill Christiansen and Ray Loader next with 36 points. Lindsay Jordan took out group 2 with 36 points followed by Ross Ireland on 35 points and Trevor Oliver with 34 points. Ladies group 1 was taken out by Susan Christall who scored 34 points and she was closely followed by Janet Shaw and Mei Hakaraia on 33 points. Group 2 was a real battle and ended with a three way tie with Cilva Richmond, Val Haigh and Betty Loader all recording 34 points. Next week sees another stableford round for the vets and a visit from Dannevirke so a good day should be enjoyed by all who attend.
This Saturday the course is closed for the Mico Tournament, while Sunday sees the men involved in Dove Trophy qualifying and playing a medal round while the ladies have the first round of their Combined Committee and Francis stableford competitions.
Finally how many of you have been in this position on the first tee! It was a sunny Saturday morning, and Kevin was beginning his pre-shot routine, visualizing his upcoming shot when a voice came over the clubhouse loudspeaker - "Would the gentleman on the Ladies tee please back up to the men's tee, please!" Kevin was still deep in his routine, seemingly impervious to the interruption. Again the announcement - "Would the man on the women's tee kindly back up the men's tee!" Kevin had had enough. He shouted, "Would the announcer in the clubhouse kindlya shut up and let me play my second shot!"