Travis O'Connell put aside controversy over representative selection to win the Auckland strokeplay golf championship at Pukekohe yesterday by a stunning margin of 12 shots from a quality field.
The 22-year-old from The Grange is one of a group of leading Auckland players who look likely to missrepresentative selection for the rest of the season because of a dispute over their availability for the Auckland-Wellington match next weekend.
On his form over the past three days O'Connell, in particular, will be a huge loss. He was nine shots under par for the 72 holes with rounds of 71, 66, 69, 69 on a course where there were only 10 rounds under par.
O'Connell said the win was his biggest so far, but he didn't believe he had played as well as he could.
"I was a bit scratchy but I putted well and that helped a lot," he said. His closest challengers were Riki Kauika, a former New Zealand representative from Wanganui, and Vann Wright, a former professional from Akarana.
Defending champion Gary-John Hill (Sherwood Park) was sixth and Waikato golfer Mark Boe, on the comeback after a serious accident, was 10th.
O'Connell said he regretted the dispute over selection but he believed playing the Waikato strokeplay next weekend would be beneficial for his game. "We all want to play for Auckland and we want Auckland to win the provincial tournament. But there are a lot of issues that need to be sorted that have dragged on for years.
"I've spoken to a lot of players and they agree with me. I don't hold anything against the officials, but we need to sit around the table and thrash this out."
Auckland president Pat McIntyre said the Auckland-Wellington match had been played for 60 years with the first at Shandon Golf Club in Wellington in August 1947.
"It is one of our traditional fixtures and this year we're playing for a new trophy honouring two of the stalwarts of the game, John Durry from Wellington and Roy Pulman in Auckland.
"If the players had approached me with their problem at the beginning of the year I would have tried to find a solution. In any other sport I've been involved with players are thrilled to represent their province.
