Golf: Boys team on top of the world - again

LONDON - With Sam Hunt firing a superb five-under 67, Rotorua Boys' High School overcame some nervous moments to retain their world schools championship golf title in England yesterday.

Hunt, Mathew Holten and Bradley Iles got Rotorua home by four strokes from Australia's St Bede's College, who had cut steadily into New Zealand's overnight lead of five strokes.

Rotorua won with a two-under total of 430. St Bede's shot 434 and French school Lycee Bellevue were third on 456. Sixteen countries were represented.

Winners by 28 strokes in Ireland last year, Rotorua showed at the Berkshire Golf Club that they could also win when the going got tough - and it got very tough.

At one stage St Bede's were only two strokes off the lead, with Andrew Tampion on his way to a 69, and Richard Slade and Fraser Tull having par rounds.

But they could get no closer as the unflappable Hunt, aged 16, put together the round of the tournament.

The New Zealand strokeplay champion, Hunt became the first player in the tournament's history to finish as the best individual in consecutive years.

"It probably feels better than last year," Hunt said after shooting six birdies and one bogey. "To do it two times in a row is very special."

He is already thinking ahead to next year. He will still be at Rotorua Boys' High to head a 2002 charge, but the team will have to win three qualifying tournaments in New Zealand to earn the right to return and defend the title.

His six-under-par, two-round total of 138 was the best by five strokes, but he admitted later that nerves got the better of him on the first green, which he three-putted.

But he regained his composure to post six birdies and reach every green in regulation, the first time he has done so in competition.

Hunt, who joins Iles, Holten and Canterbury's Eddie Lee in the New Zealand team for the world under-19 championships in Japan next month, described retaining his individual title as a bonus.

"We came here to win the teams' title, so to come away with the individual title again is a bonus," he said. "It was really great last year and it's hard to believe we've now won the teams crown two years in a row."

Rotorua Boys' High golf master Ian Woon said yesterday: "Sam seems to put it together when it really matters. We're really chuffed. There were certainly some worrying moments out there. You really felt for the boys."

Holten, who had a par 72 yesterday, tied for second-best individual on 143.

Iles fought grimly to a 75 after shooting 74 in the first round.

Several times it seemed as if St Bede's would snatch the title. On the par-three 16th, Iles hit his tee shot down a bank, and then could only chip back to the fairway.

Holten calmed the nerves as he lined up an eagle putt on the par-five 17th, then promptly set them racing again as he five-putted for a double-bogey.

That nightmare over, Holten coolly hit a long drive straight up the 18th fairway, earning praise for the way he handled himself in a stressful situation.

Woon said the team would celebrate quietly, then let loose at a lake near their hotel today.

"The promise was that if they won, they could get out and jet ski in the morning," he said. "That is a promise that must be held."

- NZPA