Off the tee: A refuge from the storm

Davis Love is living proof that taking to the golf course can be a wonderful antidote to the stress and strains of modern life.

The tall American won his fourth US PGA tournament of the year when he blitzed the field in the modified stableford format of the International in Colorado last weekend.

Love has been coping with a family tragedy which culminated with the suicide of his brother-in-law, who had embezzled about $US1 million ($1.7 million) from one of Love's bank accounts since 1999.

Thirty-seven-year-old Jeffrey Knight was a close friend and fishing companion of the golfer and had acted as a business manager for him.

He went missing on the eve of a court hearing in May and Love drove to Knight's hunting cabin in south Georgia, where he found him dead from a gunshot wound to the head.

Love, who had not wanted Knight charged, says he finds the golf course a refuge from the nightmares he has about his friend's death.

"The golf course is a good place to be," he says. "After everything that happened, I'm back among friends out here."

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Chip Beck, familiar to New Zealand golf fans for his forays Down Under, is best known as one of only three players to shoot 59 on the US PGA tour.

Now the 46-year-old American, four times a winner on the tour, has added another remarkable feat to his record.

Playing in the Nationwide tour's stop at the Champions Club in Omaha, Nebraska, last week, Beck holed his drive on the 278m par-four ninth hole.

It was only the second hole-in-one on a par four on any of the three major American men's tours.

The first at the 2001 Phoenix Open barely counts as legitimate. Andrew Magee's drive on the 292m 17th hole at Scottsdale ricocheted off Tom Byrum's putter into the hole.

But there was no doubt about Beck's ace.

"I'll remember this shot for ever," said Beck. "I'll be 47-years-old in another month and I've played this game for 37 years and I've never seen anything like it. Just read about it.

"I actually thought about laying up because I remember from last year that it is quite a poke. But I figured I might get lucky and do something good."

Beck finished the round with a four-under 68, but from there things went downhill and he finished the tournament last of the players who made the cut.

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Bay of Plenty will need to overcome a tough draw to defend their men's interprovincial title in November.

The young Bay side won the title for the first time in Whangarei last year and will need to topple some powerful provincial combinations if they are to advance in this year's tournament at Christchurch's Coringa Golf Club.

Bay of Plenty have drawn Auckland, Hawkes Bay and Waikato in their section for the tournament from November 3-7.

The 15 provincial teams play six matches with the draw reflecting where they finished in last year's event.

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Annece Choi of Massey College will be the only girl in a field of boys when the final of the AMP New Zealand secondary schools championship is staged at the Hutt Club next Tuesday.

Massey beat last year's winners, Rangitoto College, to reach the final, which will be played over 36 holes with the best three of four scores to count in the combined strokeplay system.

Choi will play off the women's tees and will receive a one-shot handicap adjustment after consideration of the course ratings for men and women at the club.

The Massey team also includes Joon Sang Chung, who has played with success for the North Harbour senior team.

Rotorua Boys' High will be chasing their fourth win in the competition and their team include two of the Bay of Plenty Tower tournament winners, Jae An and Terry Hong.