Mahunga Golf

The two Mahunga teams playing in the Wellington interclub competitions had success in the first round matches on Saturday.
Playing at home, the division 11 team, containing several players new to this competition, had a great results against the Pauatahanui team, taking all 15 points available.
The division 7 team were playing the Boulcott Farms Heritage Golf Club at their course, and they returned with a very good 11 matches to four win.
Sunday saw the Masterton Cosmopolitan Club hold an open tournament at Mahunga, and while I do not have all of the results, there were some scores of note. The best of them was the round of Rodney Miller, who returned the highest individual stableford score and the lowest nett score that have been recorded at Mahunga in the last 30 years at least. Millar had a nett score that was the same as his stableford points, and that number was 54. A nett score of 18 under the par of the course!
Martin Andrew also had a score of note, with a nett 60 for 47 points, while Maurice O'Reilly could be a little miffed that his score of 45 points was only the third best score of the day.
Saturday's club competition for those not involved in the interclub match was a stableford round. Roger Stenton led the way with 44 points, while Neville Biel and Phillip Granich both had 42, with Layton Kawana taking fourth place on 41.
The Makes Cents nearest to the pin on the first hole fell to Michelle Coley, while Neville Biel took the Mitre 10 on the third hole, Martin Andrew took the McAuley's Transport on the sixth, Ngaire Graham the Pak'n Save Masterton on the eighth, Phillip Granich the Alister Bruce Affordable Sheds on the 10th, and Nikaya Graham the Dinah and Deb Keats Professionals Real Estate on the 17th. Ray Loader took out the All teed up on the fourth hole.
Holes in two were scored by Neville Biel and Ray Stringfellow.
On Tuesday, the veterans group played in a bisque par competition, and there were some extremely good scores returned. The best of these was from Irene Phelps in the women's second group, with a total of 15-up for the 16 holes. What was also odd was that, after taking a half on one hole, Irene Phelps had two strokes left at the end of the round. Jocelyn Parker was the runner-up in this group with a 12-up total, while Cilva Richmond had to take third place on a 10-up total that would have had her at the top of the list in any other group.
In the women's first group, there was a three-way tie at the top, with Jean Bayly, Janet Shaw and Nooroa Rota al finishing on 4-up.
In the men's first group, Ray Loader led the way with a 9-up total, with Bevan Hefferen just one hole back, while Ross Ireland took third place on 8-up.
In the second group, Roger Stenton had the best men's score of 10-up, while Graeme Bound had a 9-up totaland Ian Gemmill took third on 8-up.
The women's nearest to the pins went to Jocelyn Parker on the third hole and Nooroa Rota on the sixth hole, while the men's went to Bruce Wilson on the sixth and Bevan Hefferen on the seventh. Holes in two were scored by Fred Brittain, Bruce Wilson, Roger Stenton and Graeme Bound.
This Saturday sees the men playing the next round of matches in the Dove Trophy and the first round of the Nicol Cup. With some matches having already been decided, the draw for Saturday is a little less than normal. For those not involved in the matches, the club competition will be a par round.
Sunday will see both the men and women involved in local interclub competitions. The men will be playing the first round of the Marquis Shield at the Masterton Golf Club, where the opposition will be the host club.
The women's Tilson Salver team will be in action at Castlepoint on Sunday, where they play the Carterton team.
Draw for Dove Trophy and Nicol Cup matches, Saturday, February 26:
11.45am: N. Faaiauaso v L. Butler, M. Logan v A. Solomon.
11.52am: L. Kawana v D. Leach, R. Ireland v N. Graham.