Off the tee: Tour places on the cards in south

When the players tee off in the New Zealand PGA tournament at Clearwater, Christchurch, next week, they will have more than the US$110,000 ($155,000) first prize on their minds.

As an event co-sanctioned by the Australasian tour and the United States PGA tour, it is the second tournament on the United States Nationwide tour schedule and can be a stepping-stone to the lucrative USPGA tour.

Last year's winner, Ryan Palmer, is proof of that progression. The 27-year-old Texan came to Christchurch last year after missing the cut in his first Nationwide event, the similarly co-sanctioned Jacob's Creek Open in Adelaide.

But he made the pace at Clearwater and won by three shots from Australian Andre Stolz. He had a couple of third placings and some top-10 finishes during the rest of the season in the US and finished sixth on the Nationwide money list with US$286,066 ($404,500).

This put him in the top 20, who were guaranteed cards on the full USPGA tour for this year.

The key now is to hang on to that valuable card. So far, after four events, Palmer has missed the cut twice and has a best placing of 35th at Pebble Beach for US$35,221 in prize money.

New Zealanders Michael Long and Steve Alker, who both progressed to the USPGA tour through the Nationwide tour, lost their cards after one season in the big time.

But they can take heart from the experience of Joe Ogilvie, who lost his USPGA card but got it back after winning at Jacob's Creek last year and finishing second on the Nationwide money list.

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Auckland teaching professional Stu Malcolmson will defend his title when the Perry Aggregates Pro-am is played in the Waikato next month.

The tournament, with $20,000 in prize money, will be staged on March 1 and 2 at the Ngaruawahia and St Andrew's golf courses.

A total of 61 professionals have entered, including former Waikato amateur Paul Parlane, now teaching in the US; Richard Best, seventh at the recent New Zealand Open at The Grange; and Simon Owen, the 1976 NZ Open champion, who has played on the European senior tour in recent years.

Malcolmson showed he has lost none of his playing ability when he shot a six-under-par 64 in the second round of the Open at The Grange.

The professionals will compete over 36 holes and there is a wide variety of prizes for amateur teams and individuals.

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The new Auckland men's interclub pennant competition produced some close finishes and some surprises in its first round last weekend.

The competition pits club teams of mixed grades in head-to-head competition on a home-and-away basis.

The major surprise in the top division was Titirangi's 19-9 defeat of last year's joint champions, Auckland. The other premier winners were Manukau by one game over Akarana and joint champions The Grange 16-12 over Whitford Park.

The only visitors to win in the three divisions were Manukau and Waiuku.

Over the harbour, defending Nobilo Division champions Redwood Park were beaten by Muriwai, Pupuke edged out North Shore and Waitakere accounted for Peninsula.