Pro-am a winner

What a great celebration of golf the I.N.G. Masterton-Eketahuna Pro-Am Tournament last weekend proved to be.
Two days of near perfect golfing weather, two courses in lovely condition, some inspired scoring, the usual mixture of joy and heartache ? what more could you want?
In the long run a tournament is about winners and losers, and in this case, the big winner was experienced professional, Tim Wilkinson, who took the lion's share of the $15,000 purse on offer. His victory was set up by his brilliant 8 under the card 63 at Eketahuna on Saturday. His 68 at Lansdowne on Sunday gave him a three shot margin, and a great boost in what looks to be a very busy year for the Manawatu left-hander.
On the other hand, second placed Guy Penrose from Waikato, was playing in his first event since winning his Australasian P G A tour card. To add some icing to the cake, Penrose also took out the $500 prize at the Lansdowne shoot-out contest.
The other event was the four person team's contest where the professional also contributed to the fortunes of his team. It was a stableford competition over the two rounds with the best two scores on each hole counting towards the aggregate.
Here the team sponsored by John Griffith and Co were the clear winners with their 97 points at Masterton proving too much for the rest. The two teams, Wipertec Professional and B W Schaefer Ltd, who dead-heated for second, included some familiar names from the big local tournaments late last year.
Abridged results:
Professionals: Tim Wilkinson (Manawatu) 63/68 131 1st, Guy Penrose (Waikato) 66/68 134 2nd, Ryan Haywood (Canterbury) 67/69 136 3rd=, Clarke Osborne (Auckland) 69/67 136 3rd=, Jamie McIsaac (Wairarapa) 68/70 138 5th, Paul Devenport (Wellington) 69/70 138 7th=, Stephen Gordon (Auckland) 71/68 139 7th=.
Teams:
John Griffith & Co: David Cook, Jeff McKay, Mike Falloon, Mark Brown (P) 92/97 189 1st.
Wipertec Professional: Peter Kenny, Dave Cameron, Roger Allen, Peter Smith (P) 96/98 184 2nd=.
B W Schaefer Ltd: Brian Schaefer, Fraser Mailman, Peter Herrick, Scott Puddock (P) 93/91 184 2nd=.
Coca Cola: Rob Cameron, Kane Inder, Mike Wyeth, Jamie McIsaac (P) 90/93 183 4th.
Garrity Tractors: Martin Napier, George Kirk, Alex Tulloch, Bryce Mawhinny (P) 91/90 181 5th.
There were a number of interesting highlights from the weekend, a few of which I can mention.
At Eketahuna Grant Moorhead, former member of the World Champion amateur team, shot a great 66, even greater when you know that he had a four over 8 at the 17th, putting two tee shots out of bounds.
Guest celebrity Andrew Mehrtens, playing with the Graeme Jones Car Rental team had a mixed tournament. At Eketahuna off a 5 handicap he shot a fine 71, but was unable to repeat his effort at Lansdowne where he posted 82.
Incidentally as that same four moved up the first fairway at Lansdowne we were fascinated by a rainbow circling the sun. Alas, there was no pot of gold for the Car Rental team.
At Eketahuna the shoot-out had only the one golfer, Peter Jephson, who qualified so he took the prize without a final stage. At Masterton no fewer than 13 qualified at the 8th hole with the shoot-out going to Guy Penrose.
The professional, Marcus Menara, wrenched his back in Friday's practice round. In considerable pain he played at Eketahuna where his Fire Security Services team posted the top score of 97. He had to withdraw on Sunday but his team battled bravely for 80 points, well down the prize list.
At Lansdowne on Saturday, a relatively light field took part in a stableford event. Results:
Ray Verhaart 42 pts 1st, Ron Garrod 41 pts 2nd, Trevor Campbell 40 pts 3rd, Vic Domanski 40 pts 4th.
Peter Cameron was nearest the pin at the Alex McLeod 8th hole, while Nigel Udy did best at the Money Managers' 18th.
The Masterton Vets kicked off their season with a good turn-out for their stableford competition last Monday. Results:
Women: Bib Vallance 28 pts 1st, Colleen Hamilton 28 pts 2nd, Brenda Perry 24 pts 3rd.
Men Group 1: Bill Reddington 28 pts 1st, Barry Smith 28 pts 2nd, Kel Biggs 26 pts 3rd.
Men Group 2: Bill Perry 35 pts 1st, Ken Stephenson 30 pts 2nd, Ian Schofield 29 pts 3rd.
I reckon that score by Bill Perry is the highest I've ever recorded ? he must have been practising secretly somewhere.
Nearest the pin prizes at the Fagan Ford 8th hole went to John Wales and Colleen Hamilton.
This Saturday sees all three of Masterton men's Inter-club teams engaged, two of them at Lansdowne. Division 2 play Te Marua at the Hutt with the following: Sam Forrester, Robin Smith, Brent McKenzie, Simon Hodge, Ben Harrowfield, Courtney Gane, Peter Forrester, Simon Dew, Bart Guckert and Wade Walker.
The Division 3 side are at home to Waikanae as follows: Jeff Ogg, Kevin Mackay, Murray Wolland, Pete Jackson, Bob Hill, Ian Buchanan, Phil Rutene, Ash Peterson, Paul Fouhy and Herb Ruhe.
These players have been named in the Division 6 team to play Shandon at Lansdowne: Mike Dixon, Barry Smith, Tony Iggulden, Brian Leighton, Joe Tuoro, Bruce Watkins, Tony Roseingrave, Robin Carseldine, Ben Campbell and Derek Clarkson.
Apart from the Inter-club the big event at Lansdowne comes on Sunday with the staging of the Waitangi Day Tournament. It's open to all with cards in by 12 noon and a $10.00 entry for a stableford competition. Jonesy promises to make it a Fun Day for all who participate.
Next Tuesday will be Opening Day for the women. It will be a 10 hole ambrose event. Discs in by 8.45 am with a tee off at 9 am. Everyone welcome. The new members on the Women's Match Committee are Rachel Monk, Pauline McKenzie and Pam Griffith.