Electrinet Park member Gray (84, 80) missed out on the top flight and only just made the second 16 as the 32nd qualifier overall.
He proceeded to knock out top seed Mitchell Kirkbride in the first round and went on to beat Richard Foon (PB), Peter Stewart (Park) and Jace Brown (Patutahi) in the final.
Gray’s efforts also saw him named winner of the Bill Donnelly Memorial for top junior at the Open - a trophy named in honour of a staunch supporter of junior golf. And like Donnelly, Marcus is a left-hander.
Another leftie, evergreen veteran Tene Goldsmith, isn’t sure how many times he has equalled or broken his age. It became one more on Tuesday as the 77-year-old carded 76-9-67 to win the veterans’ net.
TUESDAY - Veterans’ net: T. Goldsmith 67, K. Daniels 70, N. Jenkins 71, D. Atkins 71 V. Richardson 71, J. Jenner 71.
SUNDAY - Men’s stableford, division 1: C. Taewa 39, T. Robb 38, C. Simpson 38.
Division 2: R. Gibson 38, P. Rickard 37, G. Marchbank 37, M. Lewin 37.
Twos: C. Taewa, L. Pollitt.
Approach: C. Taewa.
SATURDAY - Emerre & Hathaway Poverty Bay Men’s Open, Championship 16 matchplay, overall winner (Keiha Cup): Mark Smith from William Brown.
Consolation: Ben Jujnovich from Anaru Reedy.
Flight 1: Richard Apanui.
Flight 2: Zach Rolls.
Second 16, overall winner (Barrington-Miller Cup): Marcus Gray from Jace Brown.
Consolation: Mitchell Kirkbride from Peter Clayton.
Flight 1: Alister Jennings.
Flight 2: Dan Collier.
Third 16, overall winner: Hayden Keast from Keith Chung.
Consolation: Blair Yeates from Stefan Andreassen.
Flight 1: Bruce Yates.
Flight 2: Tom Needham.
Fourth 16, overall winner: Matt Henwood from Andy Hayward.
Consolation: Richard Foddy from Neil Mackie.
Flight 1: Cam Cormack.
Flight 2: Mike Gordon.
Fifth 16, overall winner: Toby Williams from Hamish Evans.
Consolation: Matthew Pike from Ross Chalmers.
Flight 1: Craig Christophers.
Flight 2: Willie Coyle.
Sixth 16, overall winner: Bill Simpson from Mitch Griffiths.
Consolation: Duncan Crisp from Hamish Williams.
Flight 1: Doug Kirkpatrick.
Flight 2: Paul Rickard.
Seventh 16, overall winner: Manav Garewal from Tony Thorpe.
Consolation: Dave Solomann from Sean Shivnan.
Flight 1: Jared Barron.
Flight 2: Tom Leckie.
Qualifying, 36-hole gross (Scott Plate): William Brown 142 from Mark Smith 144 on c/b from Waka Donnelly.
36-hole net: Zac Rolls 139 from Andy Abrahams 140.
Bill Donnelly Memorial Trophy for top overall junior: Marcus Gray.
Twos: P. Butler 2, W. Donnelly 2, A. Reedy 2, M. Henwood, M. Smith, T. Goldsmith, B. Yates, B. Yeates, B. Wilson, D. Wilson, G. Pollard, C. Van Der Nagel, R. Maruszewski, R. Foon, T. Needham, B. Reynolds, M. Champness, M. Lindon, B. Jujnovich, R. Foddy, T. Adamson, N. Whyte, R. Apanui, S. Andreassen, A. Meban, P. Stewart.
Approaches: T Goldsmith 2, M. Henwood, R. Foon, R. Apanui, P Stewart.
Lucky draw. J. Jujnovich.
Emerre & Hathaway/BDO Gisborne nearest the pin challenge winner: Richard Apanui.
COMING UP: SUNDAY, Eagles Golfing Society of Gisborne charity tournament, two-tee start 9.45am to 10.45am, men’s and women’s gross, net and stableford plus approaches, twos, 9-hole section and Bob Grierson Memorial Trophy teams of four combined stableford, enter at pro shop or phone 867-4402, online booking not available.
Electrinet Park
Twenty-six players are vying for intermediate glory in this year’s men’s club championships.
The six top qualifiers booked spots in the first-round 16 while the 20 other hopefuls face an extra round to decide the remaining 10 spots.
Glen McKinnon top qualified with his 74 two weeks ago, followed by Quentin Peneha (78) and Kelly Spring (79). Phil Nepia, Mike Bond and Dave Harrison also earned places in the top 16.
Dan Collier’s 66 (on the composite par 68 course) comfortably topped the senior men’s qualifying from Zane Boyle (74) and Ray Walford (75).
Collier and Boyle advanced straight to the quarterfinals, leaving the other 12 battling for the remaining six vacancies.
Defending champion Anaru Reedy did not enter.
The junior division attracted 11 players. Heath Tupara’s 80 earned him the No 1 seeding from Paul Wellard (83) and Peter Tamatea (83).
They were joined by Luke Hayes and Horst Schreiber in the quarter-finals. Six players will contest the other three spots.
Josh Taylor’s 92 was the best of the six endeavour hopefuls. He and 10-year-old Kymani Tamatea (93) are straight into the semifinals.
Patutahi
Long-time Patutahi members Joe Blair and Helen Humble paid tribute to a late club stalwart by winning his memorial trophy on Sunday.
And they won it well. Blair and Humble combined for 45 points to win the Ruka Tupara Memorial Canadian mixed foursomes title.
They were three ahead of Waikohu’s Andrea Reeves and Richard Reeves on countback from Cecil Brown and Shelley Robertson.
Dave Skudder hadn’t broken 90 this year until Sunday. He did it in style, racking up 45 points in winning the junior men’s stableford with 85-24-61.
Junior club champion Korban Harrison-Allen won the senior division with 40 points. It came two days after topping the Friday meat pack 9-hole stableford senior field with 23.
Dave Quinn was the hottest player in a big Friday field. He won the junior division with 24.
SUNDAY - Ruka Tupara Memorial Canadian mixed foursomes stableford: J. Blair/H. Humble 45, A. Reeves/R. Reeves 42, C. Brown/S. Robertson 42, H. Harris/K. McClatchie 41.
Men’s stableford, senior division: K. Harrison-Allen 40, R. Pardoe 38, R. Mottart 37.
Junior division: D. Skudder 45, C. Kirkpatrick 39, A Zame 38.
FRIDAY - Meat pack 9-hole stableford, senior division: K. Harrison-Allen 23, R. Pardoe 21, J. Blair 20, G. Brown 19, Beau Toa 19.
Junior division: D. Quinn 24, D. Skudder 23, G. Holland 22, R. Shannon 21, S. Mohlmann 21.
COMING UP: SATURDAY, Patutahi Open Closing Tournament, 11am tee-off, Canadian mixed foursomes and men’s sections, inquiries to George Brown 027-370-9869 or horiboy1@xtrta.co.nz
Te Puia Hot Springs
Brendon McLeod had his final opponent sitting up and taking notice during club championship semifinal action on Sunday.
“He’s a golfer,” Jason Devery said after witnessing McLeod eject Thomas Donovan 4 and 3.
Devery needed all 18 holes to get past Ian Logan and set up a senior men’s final against the big-hitting McLeod this weekend.
“He shot [even-par) 68 - two birdies, two bogeys...solid as,” a suitably impressed Devery said of McLeod, noting his power that including hitting a 5-iron to within a metre of the hole on the 181m third hole and a pitching wedge into the 140m 16th.
James Forrester advanced to the intermediate final against Eruera West with a 1-up semifinal win over Henry Rasmussen.
The intermediate women’s final between Pauline Summersby and Hiria McClutchie is also this weekend.
SUNDAY - Women’s par: A. Cook 6-up; R Ngatai 4-up.
Twos: T. Donovan, B McLeod, D. Goldsmith.
Waikohu
Uma Chambers and Ella Wynyard won the Grahame and Lena Baty Memorial Cup drawn mixed pairs in the closest of ways.
Chambers and Wynyard totalled 65 points and won on countback from Percy Milner and Audrey Tamanui-Nunn.
Wynyard was also best of the women in the individual stableford - with 33 points - while Tom Smith’s 37 topped the men.
SUNDAY - Grahame and Lena Baty Memorial Cup drawn mixed pairs combined stableford: U. Chambers/E. Wynyard 65 on c/b from P. Milner/A. Tamanui-Nunn 65.
Men’s stableford: T. Smith 37, U. Chambers 32, P. Milner 32, S. Ritchie 30.
Women’s stableford: E. Wynyard 33, A. Tamanui-Nunn 33, V. Grace 30
COMING UP: SUNDAY, free day.
