Golf: Whizkid calm in tight finish

By BOB PEARCE

Sixteen-year-old Rotorua golfer Sam Hunt became the youngest winner of the national strokeplay title at Mt Maunganui yesterday - and he seemed to be the calmest player on the course.

Faced with a playoff after finishing level on 12-under with George Kinghorn of Tauranga, Hunt coolly birdied the first extra hole with an eight-foot putt to win the title.

It capped a remarkable four days for the sixth-former at Rotorua Boys High. On Sunday, he won the national foursomes title with schoolmate Mathew Holten.

He shot a seven-under 65 to be one off the pace after the first round of the strokeplay and had extended the lead to four shots after a 67 on Tuesday.

There was a minor glitch yesterday morning when he missed a lot of greens and chipped indifferently for a 75 to allow the 23-year-old Kinghorn to draw level at nine under.

Last year, Hunt showed his calm under pressure when he was the leading individual at the world collegiate championship in Ireland, where Rotorua won the world title.

Head to head with Kinghorn in the last group yesterday, he never flinched.

Kinghorn had grabbed the lead with a birdie on the 380m seventh hole after a 50-foot eagle putt on the 462m sixth and he was still one ahead with six holes to go.

The par-four 13th looked to have dashed Hunt's hopes.

He hit a tree with his drive and saved his bogey only with a testing, 11-foot putt. Kinghorn had a tap-in birdie to stretch his lead to three shots.

"I said to my caddie I was three behind and I'd better catch up," said Hunt with disarming honesty after his win.

He was as good as his word, with birdies at the next two holes, and drawing level when Kinghorn caught a greenside bunker on the short 17th and needed three to get down.

On the last, both had birdie putts for victory. Hunt was three rolls short from 18 feet, while Kinghorn's from eight feet took a late break to slide past the hole.

"I've been playing well and the putts started to drop this week," said Hunt. "I was a bit nervous this morning but after that I enjoyed it. I hit 17 greens in regulation so I couldn't help but be happy.

"I said at the beginning of the week that my goal was to finish 12 under. This win is my best experience in golf so far.

"One of my goals was to qualify for the New Zealand Open and I've done that now."

Kinghorn had the distinction of being the only player to have four rounds under par and he finally dispelled the image of being the forgotten man in Bay of Plenty's wealth of young talent.

Another Rotorua Boys High player, Bradley Iles, had rounds of 70 and 67 yesterday to take third place on 278, 10 under par.

Level on 279 were Queenslanders Henry Epstein and Andrew Duffin. Duffin won the matchplay in 1999 at Remuera, where he first played golf before his family emigrated to Australia.

Today the top 32 play the first round of the matchplay. Hunt will play Logan Holzer (The Grange) while Kinghorn will play the oldest player in the field, John Williamson (Christchurch). Seven Australians are still in the draw.

There will be two rounds of matchplay tomorrow. The semifinals over 36 holes are on Saturday with the 36-hole final on Sunday.