Off the tee: Entry to gold-plated tour

Californian Mark Johnson drove a Budweiser beer truck for 18 years and kept his golf game sharp at the weekends.

But after a marathon qualifying effort this week, he will compete next year with Hale Irwin, Tom Watson and the rest of the over-50 millionaires who gold-plate their retirement on the lucrative United States seniors tour.

Johnson, a former state amateur champion who has played professionally for six years, was making his second attempt at breaking into the seniors tour.

Last season he gained provisional status through the qualifying school and played in nine tournaments, winning a total of US$134,261 ($189,000).

This year for the first time the final qualifying in Florida was over six rounds with just seven full playing positions at stake.

Johnson had a total of 407 for the 108 holes, 25 under par, and won US$45,000 as top qualifier. But the card he has earned could potentially be worth millions on a tour that has tapped into the lucrative seniors advertising market for everything from hair colouring to sex aids.

The top seven have the chance to play most tournaments, while the next eight have provisional status for occasional starts. Among these is Australian Mike Ferguson.

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A key member of the Bay of Plenty team which has won the last three interprovincial tournaments is professional Geoff Smart.

He is the first to acknowledge that it is the players who deserve the credit, but does having a professional as part of your team provide the edge in what is always a hard-fought contest?

Three of the four semifinalists at Napier this year, Bay of Plenty, Wellington and Hawkes Bay, had their pros on hand. Beaten finalists Waikato didn't.

Smart believes that all the teams have some very talented players but when it comes to the tournament, the key is course management.

"Some very good players technically lack course management and when they come under pressure in situations like this, they don't stick to their game plan," he says.

"I think in those circumstances the coach can make a real difference. He can also help to keep the playing disciplines in place."

The last team to win three in a row were Wellington and that was in the era of Mal Tongue as provincial coach. Auckland last won in 1995 and they had a professional coach on hand.

This year, John Lister instructed the team throughout the season on course management and mental preparation, but he was not in Napier and Auckland slipped to a disappointing ninth placing.

Canterbury had a professional on hand but could finish only eighth.

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Councillors meeting at Napier declined to change the format of the interprovincial tournament, despite complaints that the present format accommodating 15 teams can be unfair.

The system means that there cannot be an evenly balanced two-section lead-up to the semifinals and it is possible for three teams from one side of the draw to advance.

One alternative suggested was to reduce the field to 14 by elimination at the Southland Invitational in March when a reasonable indication of team strength can be assessed.