Golf: Aussie Flint has spark to take NZ amateur title

By BOB PEARCE

TAUPO - Gavin Flint's hardest task on his way to the New Zealand amateur matchplay title at Taupo yesterday was qualifying for the event.

The 22-year-old Queenslander beat Jarrod Lyle 5 and 4 in the 36-hole final to add the New Zealand crown to the Queensland, New South Wales and Victorian matchplay titles he already holds. But it so nearly never happened.

On Thursday he was one of six players vying for the last two places in the 32-strong field. One place was available on the second playoff hole and he won it with a bogey after three of his opponents went out of bounds.

But when he made the field, he was all class.

From halfway in his quarter-final on Saturday until the 31st hole of the final he played 50 holes without dropping a shot to par.

Flint is a classic matchplayer, chasing birdies and scrambling brilliantly when he is in trouble. Yesterday he putted like a dream.

"If you can putt well, you can do anything," he said. "I'm usually pretty good but this was exceptional."

Time and again when Lyle looked likely to win a hole back, Flint would drain a par-saver from 3m or more.

Typical was the long par-four 13th, where Lyle was millimetres from a birdie. Flint drove into the left rough, hit a tree with his second, bent a low iron round two more trees and sank a long putt to halve in par.

But he also played well enough to finish nine under for the 36 holes, four better than Lyle after being four holes up at halfway.

"I was just waiting for him to have a bogey," said Lyle. "I'm not disgraced by losing to him."

The big Victorian, who had leukaemia five years ago, was runnerup in the Australian matchplay last month. He was also joint runnerup in the NZ strokeplay.

The semifinals demonstrated the ascendancy of the Aussies in this tournament.

Flint beat Logan Holzer from The Grange Club in Auckland 5 and 3, while Lyle demolished Cantabrian Andrew Searle 7 and 5.

Neither of the visitors dropped a shot to par, Flint was three under and Lyle five under.

But it wasn't all doom and gloom for the Kiwis.

Wanganui's Riki Kauika would have won the strokeplay title but for two bad shots with one hole to go. He had the consolation that his 65 in the third round was the event's best.

Wellingtonian teenager Dimitrios Amos, who made the playoff for the strokeplay, clearly has the talent even if some question his temperament. The even-younger Aaron Leech (Manor Park) and Samuel Shin (Gulf Harbour) shared eighth place and are stars of the future.

Of the older players, Brad Shilton (Te Awamutu) and Mark Smith (Springfield) should still be in the national selectors' thoughts and Holzer finally has some national results to show for his consistently good form for Auckland.