“It was pretty cool,” said Owen, who put their success down to the simple process of combining well.
“We’ve been doing it the whole five rounds.
“It’s quite a stressful afternoon,” Owen said in comparing the pressure of rep rugby with club golf.
“At least when I was goalkicking, it (the pressure) was only for a couple of minutes.”
Van Helden eased any nerves with a brilliant start in the final in which Rolls was playing off a 7-handicap, Gray 8, Van Helden 12 and Owen 18.
JVH disappeared down the neighbouring fifth fairway but played a superb third shot to four-feet of the hole and made birdie to put them 1-up.
That proved a snowball rolling downhill as they won the next three holes to be 4-up after four.
Left-handed duo Rolls and Gray won the fifth but both found the front bunker with their tee shots on the par-3 sixth and lost the hole.
They bounced back to win the seventh and eighth holes to reduce the deficit to two, but lost the ninth to be 3-down at the turn.
Not one hole in the opening nine was halved and that continued, with Rolls winning the 10th, then Van Helden slotting a clutch par-putt for the win on the 11th.
The first half came on the 12th — one of only two in the entire match. Owen won the 13th with a bogey, getting a shot, the 14th was halved, and after duffing his second, Owen banged his third on to the green and rolled in a 10-footer for par to seal victory.
It was the first BG title for both who joined forces two weeks before the qualifying round. They are the 73rd winners of the trophy which dates back to 1951.
Owen played in it with Harvey Johansen for many years.
Two weeks ago, Johansen said if JVH and Chips won it, he would put $200 on the bar.
Owen texted his old mate and fellow Thursday School member after their victory.
“Yeah, I know,” Johansen replied. “I’d better bring my wallet.”
Rolls and Gray can be proud of their efforts. At a combined age of 33 they are almost certainly the youngest finalists in BG Cup history.
Rolls has a chance of success in another coveted pairs competition.
He and father Steve are into the quarterfinals of the rain-interrupted Te Kanawa Cup men’s pairs at Electrinet Park Golf Club.
The Bryan Cup subsidiary final — for those who lose in the first and second rounds of the Barns-Graham — was also held on Saturday.
Willy Mortleman and Pete Graham defeated Cliff Poole and Vance Richardson 1-up in a match Poole described as “backwards and forwards”.
Had Poole and Richardson won the 18th after going 1-down on 17, it would have been the fifth time over the Barns-Graham series Mortleman and Graham had gone to extra holes.
Brent Colbert has moved into the top spot in qualifying for the Sean Shivnan Pharmacy men’s shootout.
Colbert has a net total of 204 for his top three scores, one ahead of Tene Goldsmith, with Tony Batistella and Andy Hayward on 206.
The current cut-off for the 19 is 212. Four players are on that score.
The inaugural Koco Classic women’s tournament held over the weekend proved a success.
The Classic brought together 18-hole and 9-hole players, along with those who do not play on “official” women’s days, in a relaxing format — 9-hole net eclectic each day.
Fine weather made for an enjoyable two days for all which ended with a shared lunch and prizegiving.
Carnie Nelson and Vicky Meade were the overall winners with an eclectic net of 26, one ahead of Rosie Spence and Annie Butt, with Prue Coats and Anne Gemmell third on 28.
SUNDAY — Koco Classic women’s pairs 9-hole net eclectic: Carnie Nelson/Vicky Meade 26; Rosie Spence /Ann Butt 27; Prue Coates/Anne Gemmell 28.
Twos: C Nelson.
Best third shot on 5, 0-19: L Holmberg (Saturday), A Witters (Sunday).
Best third shot on 5, 20+: A Maclaurin (Saturday), R Pettigrew (Sunday).
Best second shot on 18, : M Allan (Saturday), R Spence (Sunday).
Best third shot on 18, 20+: Noreen Johnson (Sunday).
Approach on 6, 0-19: A Witters (Saturday), S McLaughlin (Sunday).
Approach on 6, 20+: B Dickson (Saturday), A Maclaurin (Sunday).
Approach on 11, 0-19: S Spence (Saturday), C Nelson (Sunday).
Approach on 11, 20+: V Meade (Saturday), J Loffler (Sunday).
Longest putt on 17, all-in: J McCafferty (Saturday), J Loffler (Sunday).
Longest putt on 4, all-in: A Witters (Saturday), B Whyte (Sunday).
Men’s stableford, division 1: N Mackie 39, C Simpson 35, A Reedy 34.
Division 2: G Marchbank 35, B Talbot 35, K Travers 33, L Hewson 33.
Twos: L Hewson, N Mackie, B Talbot.
Approach: L Hewson.
SATURDAY — Men’s stableford, division 1: A Kirkpatrick 37, S Jeune 35, T Goldsmith 35.
Division 2: D Robertson 35, B Simpson 33, B Talbot 33, K Summersby 33.
Twos: M Stewart, N Richardson.
Approach: D Wright.
THURSDAY (July 27) — Men’s stableford, division 1: B Colbert 39, A Atkinson 38, C Dean 36, I Murphy 36, P Butler 36, P Graham 36.
Division 2: G Hawea 37, D Bush 36, T Sherratt 35, C Christie 35, G Clapham 34, R Murphy 34.
Twos: P Humphreys, S Harbottle, V Richardson.
Approach: J Van Helden.
TE PUIA HOT SPRINGS
Peter Ngarimu produced his best round of the year to win the men’s stableford on Sunday.
Ngarimu carded 81-18-63, for 39 points, including a back nine of 37 off the stick.
SUNDAY — Round 3 of Captain’s women’s competition (net): H McClutchie 98-24-74; R Ngatai 102-25-77; P Summersby 102-23-79.
LGU putting: I Ngarimu 30, H McClutchie 34.
Men’s stableford: P Ngarimu 81-18-63, 39; N Dewes 81-16-65, 37.
Twos: B Clark.
COMING UP: SUNDAY, LGU putting round.
TOLAGA BAY
Eddie Brown Jr put a tough interprovincial quadrangular the previous weekend behind him with a title-winning performance at the King of the Coast men’s open.
Poverty Bay-East Coast representative Brown Jr beat Kawerau’s TK Whata on the 18th in the Cook Handicap 2nd 16 handicap matchplay final.
Patutahi member Brown defeated Percy Milner (Waikohu), Brent Colbert (Poverty Bay) and local Will Yates en route to the final.
Te Whata, playing in the KotC for the first time, beat David Situ (PB), Ray Shields (Springfield) and 2022 runner-up Tere Lincoln (Tolaga Bay) to make the last two.
Reece Fenn (Apiti), after knocking out defending Uawa Handicap 3rd 16 champion Danny Boyle (Electrinet Park) in the semifinals, saw off home-course player Toby Williams in the final.
The host club had success in the Hauiti Handicap 4th 16 final. Joe Sheridan beat Wayne Boyd (Whangaparaoa) 2 and 1.
SATURDAY/SUNDAY — King of the Coast men’s open Championship 16, final: W Brown def D Collier.
Third: M Huriwai.
Flight: J Brown from T August.
Plate: D Russell.
Consolation: J Devery.
Cook Handicap 2nd 16, final: E Brown Jr def TK Whata.
Third: W Yates.
Flight: C Beattie from D Situ.
Plate: R Shields.
Consolation: C Taewa.
Uawa Handicap 3rd 16, final: R Fenn def T Williams.
Third: G Hawea.
Flight: D Waihaki from M Watts.
Plate: H Harris.
Consolation: T Petro.
Hauiti Handicp 4th 16, final: J Sheridan def W Boyde.
Third: A Hindmarsh.
Flight: M Waru from A Carswell.
Plate: M Ratana.
Consolation: N Welsh.
Approaches: C Beattie, TK Whata, R Fenn, A Hindmarsh.
ELECTRINET PARK
Catch-up continues as a sodden course recovers and fingers remain crossed Mother Nature will stay in a good mood.
For the men, matches are being completed in Te Kanawa Cup men’s pairs and subsidiary trophies, and qualifying rounds are being posted for club championships.
As of Monday, all but one quarterfinalist had been confirmed in the Te Kanawa.
They were Tom Reynolds and Darrel Gregory, Mike Bond and Heath Tupara, Derek Craven and Josh Taylor, Ben Holt and Mike Christophers, Ian Loffler and Steve Webb, and two father-and-son combos — Steve and Zach Rolls, and Anthony and Shaun Pahina — who face each other in the last eight.
A men’s net competition was held on Sunday. Michael Bond won on countback from Duane Mauheni and Ian Loffler. All three had net 68s.
A golf rules course is being held at Poverty Bay Golf Club from Monday, August 7. The course will comprise four seminars — one on each Monday to September 11. Seminars will run from 5.30pm to 7pm. A practical session will be held on September 4 at times to suit participants. An exam will be held on September 11 for those interested. For more information, contact Duncan Bush 021-150-2170 or 868-6427.
