KEY POINTS:
Young Wellingtonian James Betts had the thrill of his life as a junior golf champion when he got to ride with Michael Campbell in the street parade celebrating his US Open victory in 2005.
Now 19, Betts had a victory stroll of his own yesterday when he won
the national strokeplay title on his home course at Paraparaumu Beach. The blond teenager with the mullet haircut won in dramatic fashion in a three-way playoff with Aucklander Ryan Fox and Jared Pender from Tauranga after the three finished the 72 holes on 279, five under par.
They returned on the par-five 18th where Fox sliced his drive out of bounds to the right and dropped out of contention. Pender scrambled a par and Betts missed a makeable putt for a winning birdie.
Playing the hole for the second time, Pender drove out of bounds twice and conceded the hole to Betts, who was safely in the fairway.
The teenager then only had to complete the hole to the cheers of the local fans for the first victory by a Paraparaumu player in the event since the late John Durry in 1965.
Betts, a sport and exercise student at Massey University, had rounds of 72, 67, 72 and 68 with his confidence high after his first senior success, winning the Miramar Open.
"My confidence was through the roof really," he said. "Today my caddie helped a lot, keeping me calm. I got off to a flyer and then down the stretch I just tried to make pars and see how it ended up. If it was good enough to get into the playoff, anything can happen. I didn't expect Jared to put it out of bounds nor Ryan the first time.
"To win here is awesome, especially in front of my home crowd. These guys have been great to me over the past couple of years."
Betts had started the day two shots behind joint leaders Pender and Christchurch golfer Andrew Nam Koong. With nine holes to play he shared the lead with fellow Wellingtonian Peter Spearman Burn and Fox, who had three birdies and an eagle.
Fox dropped shots with four three-putt greens but set the standard at five-under. Spearman Burn got to seven-under but a triple-bogey on the 17th derailed his charge. Pender birdied the last to get into the playoff, while Betts' birdie putt stayed out to deny him the quick victory.
Nam Koong, Andrew Green (Shandon) and Aaron Leech (Cambridge) finished equal fourth, one off the pace. Lachie McDonald, 17, from Marton, shot a best-of-tournament 64 to finish in a share of 10th.
Later today 32 men and 32 women begin the national matchplay championships, which finish on Tuesday.
