Dove Trophy proves open affair

By Maurice O'Reilly
Saturday saw the first round of the Dove Trophy matches and there were some interesting results and a couple of minor upsets which is what match play is all about ? anyone can win on the day.
The top qualifiers coming off second best to the lower qualifiers seemed to be the story in the day's matches. Top qualifier Ray Loader met Syd Whittington and the outcome was a close and well fought match with Whittington coming out on top.
Roger Hoar and Brian Stevenson had a hard fought match with Stevenson prevailing on the 18th. Maurice O'Reilly had a relatively easy win 5 and 4 over Fred Brittain, although neither played outstandingly. David O'Reilly and Kingi Ruhe had a see saw match with David getting out to an early lead of 5 up before Kingi whittled it back to a lead of 2.
David was too strong in the end taking the match 3 and 2. Other winners in the first round were Kevin Hunter over Tom Tiopira, Raymond Cocks over Ron Hutcheson and Bruce Herangi over Jimmy Munn.
Meanwhile the club competition on Saturday was a stableford round. First in group 1 was Ivan Karaitiana with 42 points, by lot from Graeme Dick, and right behind them was Bill Graham with 41 points. In Group 2 Matthew Biel prevailed with 43 points, by lot from David O'Reilly, followed by George O'Keefe and Haira Paku on 38 points. Group 3 was taken out by another junior in Jacob Paulsen with 40 points from Brian Stevenson with 39 points and Kevin Gibbs with 38.
Mark Schultz, David O'Reilly and Ray Loader were the only ones to record a two and all were scored on the 17th! Nearest to the pins went to Jacob Paulsen on Solway Pie Shop no.1, Bill Leahy on no.3, Fred Brittain no.6, Ivan Karaitiana Solway Butchery no.8, Phil Brown Progressive Engineering no.10 and Graham Duckett no.17. Lukie's Lucky Last went to Phil Brown with 22 points.
The ladies had a shoot out round on Saturday and a round of their Nett Aggregate competition. First in Silver was Evelyn Munn with a nett 77 from Noeline Stevenson. In Bronze division first was Val Haigh with a nett 69, from Betty Loader nett 72 and Heather Ousey nett 73.
Sunday was relatively quiet at Mahunga with several being involved in Committee Day at Carterton and a good representation going to the MIS Tournament at Eketahuna. The club competition was a par round and first was Ivan Karaitiana on 8up, from Glenn Shaw 7 up, Bill Christiansen 6 up. Evelyn Munn, Laurence Butler and Terry Fleet were next all on 5 up. Lukie's Lucky Last went to Bill Graham on 6 down. Holes in 2 went to George O'Keefe, Bill Christiansen and Ivan Karaitiana.
The Juniors played at home last Sunday, hosting Carterton for their return match. And the result as predicted was a good win to Mahunga 153 to 106. Jake Gibbs yet again led the way for the team with 45 points, with Matthew Biel coring 42 points, Jacob Paulsen with 36 points and young Daniel Towgood in his first year with the pennants, scored 30 points. Keep it up guys and make the best of the break until the next round on the 3rd of April.
Tuesday saw the vets play in a stableford competition. First in men's group 1 was Ray Loader with 40 points with Fred Brittain and Rangi Morete next with 38 points. In group 2 it was Trevor Oliver who reigned supreme with 41 points from Jim Munn on 37 and the rest of the field well back. In group 1 for the ladies Mei Hakaraia was first with 41 points by lot from Janet Shaw also on 41, with Maureen Flynn and Sylvia Sladden next with 36 points.
In group 2 Betty Loader was to the fore again this week with a whopping 46 points, from Val Haigh with 42 and Noeline McGovern 39 points. Nearest to the pins for the ladies went to Mei Hakaraia on no.3 and Maureen Flynn on no.6, and for the men it was Fred Brittain on no.6 and Bill Christiansen on no.7. Twos were scored by Jon Kopua, Rangi Morete and Trevor Oliver. Next week the vets have a visit from the Masterton vets and will be playing a stableford round over 14 holes.
This weekend sees the second round of the Dove Trophy and Nichol Cup for the men on Saturday, and for the ladies it is the first round of the Malmo Par, with the club competition a par round. Sunday sees the Wairarapa Team Stableford Competition at Carterton and the ladies team at Featherston for the Tilson Salver, while on the home front it is a free day for the men and the ladies with the club competition being a medal round.
Tee times for Saturday for the Dove Trophy and Nichol Cup are: 12.00 - M O'Reilly, R Cocks, F Brittain, R Hutcheson. 12.07 - D O'Reilly, B Stevenson, J Munn, T Tiopira. 12.14 - R Loader, S Hargood, B Herangi, K Hunter. 12.21 - S Whittington, Jeremy Harp, R Hoar K Ruhe.
Finally there is a working bee at the club this Saturday starting at 8.30am. Also don't forget to put your entries in for the WBS Mahunga Easter Tournament as the field is filling fast, and bring your prizes for the Monster Easter Raffle. Good luck to all who are representing the club this weekend.