Golf roundup

Junior finalists: Duncan Bremner (left) and Joe Tihore. Pictures supplied

A tall mountain but not unconquerable.

That's the attitude Rod Moore will take into the challenge of facing top qualifier and the district's lowest-handicapped player — Anaru Reedy — in the men's club championship finals on Sunday.

Moore and Reedy set up their senior men's division duel with tough semifinal wins on Sunday.

Reedy was given a stern test by Sel Peneha in a 2 and 1 win while Moore got past 2019 champion Brad Reynolds in a high-pressure tussle that went all 18 holes.

While Reedy was not in the sub-par form of his quarterfinal cruise, he did enough to overcome the dogged Peneha.

A pivotal moment came on the 17th when Peneha's putt for birdie horse-shoed the hole and Reedy knocked in his birdie attempt to go 1-up.

The Moore-Reynolds duel was a likewise tight affair where a couple of chunked shots (on 15 and 18) ultimately proved fatal for the defending champ after being 1-up after 14 holes.

Anthony Pahina and Steve Phillips took different paths to the intermediate final. Phillips eased past top qualifier Ray Walford 4 and 3 while Pahina held off Ben Cameron to win on the 18th.

Junior No.1 seed Dave Harrison booked his place in the final with a 2 and 1 defeat of greenkeeper Pete Tamatea.

Scotsman Harrison's last hurdle is Neal Jones, who beat Glyn Williams also on the 17th.

The senior and intermediate finals are over 36 holes while the juniors battle it out over 18.

■ Jean Foot collected her third intermediate women's club championship title in four years on Monday. Foot defeated Tracey Ford 7 and 6 in the 27-hole final.

SUNDAY — Men's net: D Harrison 72, G McKinnon 72.

Approach: R Taylor.

Men's best second shot: T Akroyd.

Women's stableford: J Nickerson 34.

Women's best third shot: T Ford.

Drawn two: J Kerr.

SATURDAY — Men's stableford: H Schreiber 37.

TUESDAY (Sept 8) — Veteran men's stableford: R McGann 40, P Mitchell 38, D Te Maro 38, C Brown 36, R Moore 35, W Brown 35, G Williams 34, N Jones 34.

COMING UP: TUESDAY, Gisborne East Coast Veteran Golfers' Society Croskery Tankard, round 2, 9.30am tee-off.

A glorious spring day, an aerobatic-like display and an almost-hole-in-one were among the highlights of a successful Tahunga open closing tournament on Sunday.

The creatively-designed nine-hole course was a postcard, enhanced by a blue blanket sky and a full river swollen by recent rain.

A busy top-dressing pilot interrupted the tranquility but provided extra entertainment to the golf experience itself.

On the course, Tahunga couple Lee and Maria Johnson combined to win the Noonan Cup mixed pairs combined stableford with 59 points, one ahead of Mahia's Wayne Wesche and Renee Hiko.

Taine Lincoln made the long haul from Tolaga Bay worth it prize-wise by winning the men's overall net with 73-5-68, which included an eagle and the men's approach.

Local Casey Maddock's 74 won the women's overall net.

Collin Jeffrey's gross-winning 74 (Lincoln had the lowest gross but the overall net is the top prize) featured a superb wedge shot on the signature bridge par-3 hole — his ball landing next to the pin and ending up six inches away.

Tahunga's course rating, combined with the new World Handicap System, meant many of the outside players experienced the fright of their home-course handicap dropping six shots or more.

The locals were rapt with the support — which included players from almost every club in the region — particularly as they were forced to cancel their popular men's annual open tournament due to Covid-19.

Sunday also gave the Tahungians the chance to officially farewell members Tennant and Leigh McNeil from the district.

SUNDAY — Noonan Cup mixed pairs combined stableford: L and M Johnson 59, Wayne Wesche/R Hiko 58.

Men's overall net: Taine Lincoln 68.

Women's overall net: C Maddock 74.

Men's gross: C Jeffrey 74 on c/b from G Williams 74.

Men's stableford: C Taewa 35, S Butt 34, T Green 32, H Douglas 32.

Women's stableford: M Tuapawa 32, C Maddock 31.

Men's best second shots: C Jeffrey (up to 10-handicap), Mark Steele (11 and over).

Men's approaches T Lincoln (up to 10), B Law (11 and over).

Women's best second shot: R Taewa (up to 30), T Steele (31 and over)

Women's approaches: R Taewa (up to 30), T Steele (31 and over).

All-in approach: C Jeffrey.

Eagle: T Lincoln.

Twos: T Lincoln, C Taewa, G Williams, Brian Wallace, C Jeffrey.

Hamish Harris was the only player to go under handicap in weekend competitions . . . and that was only just.

Harris won the junior men's net on Sunday with 80-11-69, while Jon Priestley's 79-10-69 won the senior men's division and Jan Ewart's 79 the women's net.

TUESDAY — Women's bisque stableford: L Haisman 100-25-75, 35; J Ewart 105-26-79, 33; A Haisman 102-22-80, 29.

SUNDAY — Men's net, senior division: J Priestley 70, J Neilson 70, H Brown 71, E Brown Jr 73.

Junior division: H Harris 69, S Eder 70, D Quinn 71, P Summersby 71.

Women's net: J Ewart 78.

Twos: G Brown, Whata Brown, B Tietjen.

FRIDAY — Meat pack nine-hole stableford: S Eder 17, G Brown 16, J Blair 16, D Skudder 15.

Waikohu

WAIKOHU'S open closing tournament is on Saturday. There are Canadian mixed foursomes and men's sections. Tee-off is 11.30am. Waikohu members to bring a plate.

Next week's Poverty Bay Men's Open will come to a show-stopping finish whatever happens in the championship 16 final.

On the Saturday afternoon, following the completion of all finals, qualifiers from the Thursday strokeplay rounds will duel it out in the Emerre and Hathaway/BDO $1000 Nearest-To-Pin Challenge ($5 entry).

The winners of each of the approaches — on the second, sixth and 11th holes — will qualify for the Challenge.

The playoff will comprise of two attempts per qualifier to hit a ball as close as possible to the pin from a specially-designed par-3 tee on the 18th fairway.

There is the potential for six players to be in the final — one for each of the approaches. However, as has happened in the past, one player could win more than one approach.

In that case, the player will get two shots for each of his winning approaches.

Harvey Johanson flirted with breaking his age in last Thursday's men's stableford.

The 78-year-old ended up signing for 81-16-65, for 43 points, but it wasn't good enough to win division 2.

Ray Veall's 84-19-65, also for 43, won on countback.

Marg Lane slipped under 100 for the first time this year and was rewarded with the women's medal honours on Monday. She shot 99-32-67.

WEDNESDAY — Women's medal net: J Utting 69, Teresa Lewis 69, V Fletcher 70, J MacKinnon 70.

TUESDAY — Veterans' stableford: M Dogdshun 38, K Travers 37, R Veall 37, R Wells 36.

Two: K Travers.

Monday — Women's medal: M Lane 67, V Bell 68.

Two: V Bell.

SUNDAY — Men's stableford, division 1: R Gibson 37, N Richardson 37, D Pirimona 36, J Jenner 36, G Clapham 36, M Callaghan 35.

Division 2: A Putnam 40, L Hewson 39, A Baldwin 36, S Harbottle 35.

Twos: G Morley, L Hewson, P Clayton, J Jenner, G Clapham.

Approach: D Pirimona.

SATURDAY — Men's stableford, division 1: P Butler 35, T Goldsmith 34, P Clayton 34.

Division 2: W Thompson 37, D Mettrick 37.

Approach: T Donovan.

THURSDAY (Sept 10) — Men's stableford, division 1: C Dean 38, V Richardson 37, I Murphy 37, D Griffin 36, J Pittar 36.

Division 2: R Veall 43, H Johanson 43, R Murphy 40, R Owen 40.

Twos: H Johanson, V Richardson, I Murphy, P Butler, G Brown, J Pittar, C Christie.

Approach G Brown.

Representative days of old came flooding back for Bill Clark as he reduced the men's stableford on Sunday to a one-horse race.

The former Poverty Bay-East Coast rep fired 72-11-61, including a back nine holes of even-par 32, to finish the length of the straight ahead of the field.

SUNDAY — Women's stableford: J Williams 35, H Miratana 35, D Goldsmith 35, I Ngarimu 32.

Approaches: B Moana, G Roberts.

Men's net: B Clark 61, P Harrison 68, Pita Moana 69, N Dewes 70, K Waitoa 72, T Kupenga 72, D Moana 73, J Devery 73, J Forrester 74, H Puha 74, A Higham 74.

Twos: G Roberts, A Higham, P Harrison, B Clark.

COMING UP: SUNDAY, women's Handicap Cup first round, intermediate club champs (J Forrester v N Dewes).

The men's club champions will be decided this Sunday.

Neil Hansen faces Bruce Yates in the senior final, Rongo Pomana and Mark Watts duke it out in the intermediate final and Jeremy Murphy takes on Dan Maitai in the junior final.

Finals tee off at 9.30.

A stableford competition follows at midday.