Golf: Local knowledge to fore

Titirangi teenager Kevin Chun has the chance to consolidate his claim for a place in New Zealand's Eisenhower Trophy team when he contests the Auckland strokeplay championship on his home course this weekend.

The 72-hole tournament is the third of four trials before the three-man team is named for what is effectively the world amateur championship - an event New Zealand won in 1992 in Canada.

New Zealand's preparations this time have been disrupted by the serious injury to their No 1, Brad Iles, in the United States a few weeks ago. He is battling his way back to fitness and the selectors will give him every chance of making the team.

In his absence from the course, the 18-year-old Chun, Josh Geary from Mount Maunganui, Riki Kauika from Manor Park in the Hutt Valley and Doug Holloway from Maraenui in Hawkes Bay have emerged as strongest contenders.

The 19-year-old Geary has hit a rich vein of form. He won the North Island amateur early in the year and has excelled in the two previous trials, finishing second in the Waikato winter strokeplay and winning the Bay of Plenty Open.

Chun won the Tasmanian amateur title early in the year and has been very consistent. Kauika also scores well with his stroke average over the season and performed best of the contenders in the national strokeplay championship at Taupo. Holloway had recent success in Malaysia.

Geary will be hoping to extend New Zealand's success in Asia when he and another form golfer, Waikato's Mark Purser, play the Singapore Open next month.

Titirangi is not a long course but its world-famous par-threes makes it an excellent test, which many renowned professionals have struggled to pass. Chun is a club member, but his busy schedule with the national squad restricts his competitive play there.

"I've been trying to play the course as much as possible recently," he said. "But I've had a problem with my left elbow. Thankfully that's much better now.

"Titirangi is not that long but it's a thinking course. You have to have good course management."

The course bears little resemblance to the Westin Rio Resort course in Puerto Rico where the Eisenhower will be played from October 28, so New Zealand Golf has arranged a programme for its team, which will allow the players to experience Bermuda grass greens and fairways.

With coach Brian Doyle, they will have two or three days in Queensland and will also have the chance to play in Miami on the way to the tournament.

Iles' accident has complicated the selectors' task. He is No 1 by some way and, as one expert noted, his B game is better than most of his rivals' A game.

The team is due to be named after the Waikato strokeplay, but the selectors may opt to bracket Iles with another player and leave a decision on his fitness until later.

He has made remarkable progress from the life-threatening head injuries he suffered in a fall from a golf cart and this week received a welcome 21st birthday present at his home in Papamoa when the headaches, which have plagued him, abated. In his absence, the Auckland strokeplay field is still one of the strongest ever. The defending champion is Logan Holzer from The Grange

Enu Chung (Auckland), Sarah Nicholson (Wellington) and Penny Newbrook (Rotorua) have already been named for the women's Espiritu Santo tournament in Puerto Rico. They will be playing this weekend in the North Shore 54-hole event at the North Shore Club..

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A new Auckland women's provincial champion will be crowned on Wednesday when the final is played at Middlemore.

Akane Iijima, who won at Titirangi last year, has not entered. The leading contenders include NZ representative Natasha Krishna, who will be playing on her home course. The tournament starts with two rounds of strokeplay qualifying on Monday.