McElroy clinches New Zealand Mid-Amateur title

Shelly McElroy (left) and Brent Curnow celebrate winning New Zealand Mid-Amateur titles at Omanu. PHOTO/ SUPPLIED

Bay of Plenty representative Shelley McElroy, from Springfield Golf Club, won the 2017 New Zealand Women's Mid-Amateur by 7 shots at Omanu Golf Course on the weekend.

Her name was added on the Women's Trust Shield and she was the leading player out of both men's and women's fields.

McElroy opened her charge with a 73 in Friday's round that was anything but easy with strong afternoon sea breezes proving to be a challenge for all. Her one over par round included birdies on the par 4 second and the challenging par 3 seventh.

Two bogies in the first nine holes, followed by a further bogey on the 11th, before a par-run home, gave McElroy a one-shot lead heading into day two of the 54 hole, 3-day national tournament.

Chasing hard and finishing on 74 in her opening round was the strong Harbour player, Vaha Fapiano. Taranaki representative Ann Braithwaite, one shot further back with a 75, had a dream run, playing 3 shots under her handicap.

McElroy cemented her lead in Saturdays round with a 74, and four shots ahead of Fapiano. Both Fapiano and Braithwaite had disappointing rounds of 77 in the mornings round that offered players benign weather and great scoring opportunities in comparison to windy tough conditions during the first round.

McElroy saved her best for last with a 2-under par round in Sunday's final 18-holes. Despite a 7 on the par 5 sixth; birdies on the second, fifth and seventh holes and a bogey-free run home from the eighthgave McElroy her first win in the prestigious Mid-Amateur tournament.

Her final score was 217, one over par, with Fapiano second on 224 with a final round of 73. Defending champion Jill Morgan shot 73 to deny Braithwaite third place in her race to claim the title again.

Meanwhile, elation was all you could see on Brent Curnow's facewhen receiving the Neil Woodbury Cup and the top men's award.

Curnow, who plays most of his golf out the Mt Maunganui Golf Club, shot a 73 in Friday's first round, backed up with a one-under 71 on the Saturday round. Going into the final round, Curnow had a 4-shot lead over the field. Even with a 3-over 75 he could not be caught as overnight contenders fell away.

Curnow has won his club championship two years in a row and he won by 4 shots ahead of Marcus Ramon (Redwood Park) who had rounds of 75, 74 and a one-under par 71.
Best round of the tournament was 67 by James Malone (Te Ngutu).

The 2017 field attracted players from all round New Zealand and Australia, France and Tahiti. The tournament is managed by PaR nz Golfing Holidays on behalf of New Zealand Golf, who announced that the tournament would return to Omanu Golf Club in 2018, details and entry forms to be released in due course.​