Top amateurs on show

This weekend the Lower Regions Representative Quadrangular Tournament will be held at the Masterton Golf Club and some of the North Island's best amateurs will be representing their 'province' on both Saturday (two rounds) and Sunday morning. The tournament consists of representative teams from Wellington, the current titleholders, Hawkes Bay, Manawatu/Wanganui and Wairarapa. Each team is made up of eight seniors and six (under 23) juniors. Each team plays the others in match play. The tournament will be a great chance for the golfing public to see some of the regions top players in action. Looking through the team lists Hawkes Bay will have Bruce Middlemiss in their team, while Wellington have Adam Church, Rodney Baltrop and Martin Webber amongst their team numbers. A strong Wairarapa team has been selected and, and, as the host team, are expected to perform well against their more illustrious opponents. The Wairarapa team is (Masterton players unless otherwise stated) Seniors: Brent MacKenzie, Elton Nicholson (Castlepoint), Robin Smith, Bryan Dick (Mahunga), Peter Forrester, Sam Forrester, Brian Campbell, Simon Hodge. Juniors: Michael Schofield, Courtney Gane, Wade Walker, Ben Campbell, Brett Gibbs, Jeffrey Tuoro. The draw is- Saturday (tee off from 7.30am) Hawkes Bay v Manawatu/Wanganui, Wairarapa v Wellington. Afternoon (tee off from 12.15pm) Hawkes Bay v Wellington, Wairarapa v Manawatu/Wanganui and Sunday morning (7.30am tee off) Manawatu/Wanganui v Wellington and Wairarapa v Hawkes Bay. With the course closed to 'mere mortals' all day Saturday and Sunday morning the normal Masterton club day will be held on Sunday afternoon (discs in by 12noon) with the men's competition being a stroke round, Challenge Shield and Markham Shootout qualifier. However, as the Quadrangular Tournament is a Wairarapa event, club members have reciprocal rights on any Wairarapa course on Saturday and Sunday morning, but please remember to ring the club first. Last weekend was a memorable one for the three interclub teams that played, with all recording good wins. Our Waikanae Cup team travelled to Te Marua to play Manor Park, last years Div 2 winners, in their first outing (they had a false start 3 weeks ago) of the season, and had a comprehensive 11 ? to 3 ? win. In the morning foursomes Brent MacKenzie and Sam Forrester had an easy 5/4 win while in the afternoon wins were recorded by Brent MacKenzie, Robin Smith, Courtney Gane, Peter Forrester, Wade Walker, Ben Harrowfield and replacement, Bob Hill. Overall this is a great start for the team, but it is early days yet and Otaki, in the same division, have already amassed 23 ? points from two rounds. The Div 6 team played Otaki at Masterton and had a solid 9 ? to 5 ? win. Otaki has played both its previous games at home, and lost both times, so the Masterton result, although a win, could have been better. Good wins were recorded by Brian Leighton, who had trouble with the tough Paraparaumu course last round, Mike Dixon, and Ithiel Stya, while newcomers to the team Trevor Campbell and Jamie Brunton had 'first up' victories. The Rear-ender Trophy was awarded to Joe Tuoro. And while I'm talking about trophies who is the current holder of the Div 3 trophy that has replaced Eyeon? This trophy is supposed to be displayed in a prominent place in the holder's office, home or car but I understand it has been found in the women's cupboard in the committee room- there must be some strange explanation? The Div 3 interclub team plays Mornington at Mornington this Saturday. It would be fair to say it is not this team's favourite course with the hard ground at this time of the year meaning your ball can end up in some very unexpected places, or, as happened two seasons ago, our team had a torrential downpour on two different occasions and the round was 'called off' half way through. On the third visit a result was finally achieved. The team for Saturday is (not in playing order) Peter Jackson, Kevin Mackay, Jeff Ogg, Murray Wolland, Phil Rutene, Ian Buchanan (should the mislaid trophy be on the Chairman's desk in Wellington?), Herb Ruhe, Trevor Campbell, Nigel Udy and Paul Fouhy. However the best interclub result of the weekend must surely go to the Masterton Marquis Shield team that played Mahunga at Featherston on Sunday. Masterton's record in the Marquis Shield, and more particularly against Mahunga, has been very poor over the years- in fact no one is able to re call the last time Masterton actually beat Mahunga! But that all changed on Sunday. New selector Steve (The Hobbit) Hemingway devised a selection strategy and choose a team he felt would perform well, and so it proved. Although there were a few hitches when a last minute reshuffle was necessary after an injured player had to withdraw, and the handicaps 'rolling' on Friday meant the reserves could not be used in the correct divisions, Steve's team produced a 7 ? to 4 ? win. Needless to say he hasn't stopped smiling. Perhaps the most notable result on Sunday goes to Danny Clarkson, who was promoted from intermediate to senior at the last minute to replace the injured Bart Guckert and therefore had to play at No 1. He had a half off the stick' and a resounding Marquis win against Mahunga's top senior. For those who played 'at home' on Sunday, and there weren't many with two interclub teams playing and a large contingent of members playing in the Riversdale Open, the competition was net plus putts. Both men and women played the same competition with the winner being Val Cobb with 90, followed by the men, Alan Carroll, 92, Keith Williams, 93 and Peter Jackson, 95. The Alex McLeod Nearest the Pin on No 8 was won by visitor and past member Nick Bryant- in fact he couldn't get any closer as it was a 'Hole in One', the Fire Services No11 went to Gerry Verhaart, and the Money Managers 18th was won by Peter Jackson. Another Hole in One was recorded on Sunday In the ever- growing group of members playing in the 'Sunday Club' Brian Campbell played the perfect shot on No 13, so we had two aces in one weekend. With the sudden change in the weather the Monday Vets decided to postpone their competition to Wednesday, so no results are available. On Tuesday the Masterton women played a qualifying round in the National Teams Championship. The top four best net scores qualify as a team for the district final to be played at Royal Wellington on 5 May. A big field of 55 women participated and the top four, making up the team were Margot Barton (Net 68), Carolyn Springer (Net 69), Megan Barker (Net 69) and Janna Blundell (Net 70) The LGU Putting Competition winners were Linda Cameron in the Silver division, Margaret Irwin in the Bronze A and Anne Kenny in the Bronze B. Good luck to the Riverside Cup team that is playing at Featherston on Friday against Martinborough and to the Lansdowne Trophy team that plays the combined Miramar/Otaki side at Heretaunga on Monday. The competition for women next Tuesday is a combined stableford for the Christiansen Trophy.
Off the Fairway You may have noticed that this column is not written by its usual author, Noel Preston. Noel is currently being well looked after by the medical staff of Masterton Hospital where he is recovering from a hip replacement operation. When I saw him on Monday he was sitting up in a chair 'holding court' to his many visitors. Why so relaxed you may ask? Well, this is Noel's fifth hip replacement, and although it has been the most difficult, he must be getting used to it. FIVE hips I hear you say- yes three replacements on the left side, but this is only the second on his right side. It has been suggested that instead of calling him, 'the golfing guru' he should be called 'the bionic man'! Get well soon, Noel.