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Two Kiwi teenagers showed the way to a big field of Australian and New Zealand amateurs and professionals at Manukau yesterday to head the qualifiers for this week's New Zealand Open at Gulf Harbour.
On the par-72 South Auckland course, 17-year-old Wellingtonian Peter Spearman-Burn and 16-year-old Danny Lee
from Rotorua shot five-under 67s in the gusty conditions.
They were two shots ahead of New Zealand professionals Doug Batty and Alex Tait and New Plymouth amateur Troy Ropiha. Eight players shot 70, four had 71 and five 72.
Two sons of former All Blacks will be playing at Gulf Harbour. Ryan Fox, son of Grant, shot 71 and Mark Boe, son of John, had a 72.
With 21 places available, Johnny Dittmer from the Shandon Club in the Hutt Valley was the unlucky player to miss out on a starting position from those on 72. Jae An, who played his first New Zealand Open as a 13-year-old, qualified for his fourth as an 18-year-old professional - but only after a five-hole playoff with Dittmer.
Spearman-Burn, from the Miramar Club, has been national under-19 champion and knows the Manukau course well after reaching the semifinals of the Auckland matchplay in September.
He relished the wind, shooting six birdies and an eagle on the 492m ninth, where he sank a 6m putt. Lee qualified for the US amateur championship this year and holds the national under-23 title. He had a chip-in eagle at the 458m 16th and four birdies.
Batty, a former Northlander who earned a business degree while playing alongside Brad Heaven at Toledo University in Ohio, can offer some encouragement to Dittmer and the five others listed as alternates.
In 1997, when Greg Turner won the Open at Middlemore, the teenage Batty was 12th alternate after qualifying. He was relaxing at home when he got a phone call to tell him he was in the field and on the tee in 20 minutes.
"It was normally a 22-minute journey but I made it in time and found myself playing in a group behind Michael Campbell and Bob Charles with huge galleries," he said. These days he bases himself at Santa Monica in California and has tried to qualify for the USPGA tour.
Tait, another Northlander, is a former New Zealand cricketer who has been playing in Europe with an eye to qualifying for the European tour.
North Harbour amateurs Jacques Nortje, Scott Wightman - who had two eagles - and Kevin Budden were among the qualifiers on 70, with 15-year-old Seve Ha, the Auckland matchplay champion.
