GOLF ROUNDUP

Patutahi’s club champions were crowned on Sunday. They are (from left) Pat Hokianga (intermediate men), Abbie Davis (junior women), Steve Fookes (endeavour men), Mike de Luze (junior men), Helen Pomana (intermediate women) and Hukanui Brown (senior men).Picture supplied

Patutahi

Hukanui Brown remains the king of ’Tahi but he needed his full arsenal to repel a gallant challenger on Sunday.

Brown made it five consecutive senior men’s club championship titles with a 2 and 1 win over Shayde Skudder in their 36-hole final.

The pair produced some magic play.

Brown shot 4-under 66 in a first 18 holes which included an eagle and six birdies while Skudder had four birdies in his 67.

The pair went to lunch all square in a final that seem destined to go all the way.

Brown took charge at the business end, winning the 33rd and 34th holes to go 2-up.

Skudder chipped in for birdie on the 35th but Brown responded with an 8-foot birdie putt to seal an outstanding victory.

Five others joined Brown in the victors’ circle on finals day.

Pat Hokianga beat George Brown 5 and 4 in the intermediate men’s final (36 holes); Mike de Luze beat Mason Smith 4 and 2 in the junior men’s final (36 holes); and Steve Fookes beat Michael Broad 2 and 1 in the junior men’s final (18 holes off handicp).

Club stalwart Helen Pomana beat Sheree Gray 3 and 2  over 18 holes in the intermediate women’s final while Abbie Davis marked her first season with a 4 and 3 win over Kim Torrez in the junior women’s final.

SUNDAY — Club championships finals day, senior men (36 holes): Hukanui Brown def Shayde Skudder 2 and 1 .

Intermediate men (36 holes): Pat Hokianga def George Brown 5 and 4.

Junior men (36 holes): Mike de Luze def Mason Smith 4 and 2.

Endeavour (18 holes off handicap): Steve Fookes def Michael Broad 2 and 1.

Intermediate women (18 holes): Helen Pomana def Sheree Gray.

Junior women (18 holes): Abbie Davis def Kim Torrez 4 and 3.

Men’s stableford, up to 13: Shayde Skudder 41, T Adamson 38, H Brown 36, C Parker 36, P Hokianga 35.

14-plus: S Fookes 39, J Blair 38, M King 38, B McKenzie 35, L Jamieson 35.

Women’s stableford: A Davis 40, H Pomana 35.

Twos: P Hokianga, T Adamson, H Brown  (eagle on 1), M Smith.

FRIDAY — Meat pack 9-hole stableford, senior division: J Blair 42-9-33, 20; R Pardoe 41-7-34, 19; P Johnston 42-7-35, 18.

Junior division: P Tinnelly 56-24-32, 21; M Broad 45-12-33, 20; G Tattersfield 43-10-33, 20.

Poverty bay

Simon Jeune will go into next week’s Emerre and Hathaway Poverty Bay Men’s Open as a club champion. Whether he can convert the senior men’s title he won on Saturday to Open glory is the question although he has won both once apiece before.

Jeune added the 2023 Liquorland senior men’s crown to his 2015 title with a 4 and 3 win over Mark Jefferson in the 36-hole matchplay final.

The short-game wizard proved too solid for Jefferson, who hung tough throughout.

Jeune led 2-up after 18 holes and maintained that advantage through the 27th.

Jefferson made a great birdie on the 28th to cut the deficit to one, but three-putted the 29th for bogey to go back to 2-down.

Jeune ended the match in style, putting a 4-iron shot to about

10-feet on the 33rd and slotting the birdie putt.

Vance Richardson turned up the heat in the back nine to win the intermediate final (over 18 holes).

Richardson was 3-down after 11 holes to Steve Francks, but won the 12th, 14th, 16th, 17th and 18th holes for a 2-up win.

He came home in 1-over 37.

Colin Christie became junior champion for a second time, 43 years after his first title, and this time he won it properly.

The 78-year-old Christie beat Hamish Williams 3 and 2 (over 18 holes) in the 2023 decider.

Going into the final, Christie thought he had won it about 50 years ago, but a perusal of the trophy showed it was in 1980.

Christie, who was 35 at the time, recalls playing with “three old buggers” in the semifinals and going on to win his match to set up a final against JR Atkins. It didn’t eventuate as Atkins was unavailable for the final so Christie won by default.

That same year, a 17-year-old Jeune played in the senior champs but was knocked out by Keith Elekerton in the quarterfinals.

Murray Smith defeated Peter Goodwin 3 and 2 in Saturday’s endeavour final.

Sam Willock has never experienced a round like it.

Willock had one of those days when “everything possible went right” last Thursday — a career-best 81-20-61, for 47 points. It topped hot scoring in the division 2 men’s stableford where Mike Dodgshun and Mark Gemmell’s 43-point efforts were only good enough for second and third

Willock’s handicap index dropped from 20.1 to 16.6.

Same hole, different tee.

Brian Morrissey recorded the second hole-in-one of his career at the Emerre and Hathaway/Insurance Institute Gisborne annual tournament on Friday.

Morrissey sank a 9-iron on the par-3 sixth hole from a makeshift tee as work was being done on the usual tee-off area.

It was a history-repeating shot. Morrissey’s first ace was on the same hole several years ago, but with a 7-iron.

WEDNESDAY — Women’s chocolate stableford, 9-holers: C McDonald 23, W Linton 23.

18-holers: F Pell 41, L Fletcher 39,

V Bell 38.

Captains v Presidents (Burke Cup): Won by Captains.

TUESDAY — Veteran men’s net: J McGregor  69,  B Rothschild 71, D Mettrick 72, C Dean 73 , C Hensley 73.

Twos: V Richardson, C Dean.

SUNDAY — Men’s stableford, division 1: B Morgan 39, W Mortleman 39, A White 39, G Morley 39, A Kirkpatrick 38.

Division 2: L Pollitt 41, B Simpson 40, R Chalmers 39.

Twos: K Summersby, P Stewart, G Morley, S Francks.

Approach: P Stewart.

MONDAY — Women’s net: M Lane 68, L Fletcher 70.

SATURDAY — Liquorland men’s club championship finals, senior (36 holes): Simon Jeune def Mark Jefferson 4 and 3.

Intermediate (18 holes): Vance Richardson def Steve Francks 2-up.

Junior (18 holes): Colin Christie def Hamish Williams 3 and 2.

Endeavour (18 holes): Murray Smith def Peter Goodwin.

Liquorland men’s stableford, division 1: G Morley 38, H Keast 38.

Division 2: K Goldsmith 39, B Anderson 34.

Division 3: C Tumataroa- Clarke 43, M Stewart 36.

Twos: G Clapham, S Francks, K Goldsmith.

Approach: K Goldsmith.

Thursday (Sept 7) — Men’s stableford, division 1: A Battistella 39, A White 38, S Harbottle 38, D Griffin 38.

Division 2: S Willock 47, M Dodgshun 43, M Gemmell 43, M Reynolds 41.

Twos: P Clayton, A Kirkpatrick, S Willock, J Van Helden.

Approach: J Van Helden.

WEDNESDAY (Sept 6) — Kiri Te Kanawa Retirement Village women’s tournament, 18-hole  net: J Steele 68, J Muir 69, C Skuse 70.

9-hole net: B Dickson 31, C McDonald 34, S Armstrong 35.

Twos: J Muir.

Longest putt: C Mackie.

Best second shots: S Armstrong, H Williams, L Holmberg, J Muir.

LGU: G Young 89-17-72.

MONDAY (Sept 4) — South Africa women’s pairs stableford: G Young/J Clayton 83.

Electrinet park

One shot can make all the difference in golf.

And so it proved in the  Benson Cup women’s pairs handicap matchplay final on Saturday.

Jo Kerr and Tracey Ford beat Tai Aramakutu and Di Webb in a titanic battle decided by an extra hole.

Ford’s bogey-6 on the first hole of a sudden-death playoff sealed the match, but it was Kerr’s  touch of class two holes earlier that was pivotal.

Kerr, off a 9-handicap, was giving the shots — 12 to Ford, 21 to Aramakutu and 29 to Webb.

“Luckily for us, Di had two hot rounds leading up to Saturday where she lost four shots, otherwise I was looking at 33 shots to give,” Kerr said.

Having earlier in the match finished a roll short of an eagle on the par-5 ninth and chipped in for a double bogey-6 and the win on the 10th, more drama was to come from Kerr.

Giving Webb two shots on the 17th, Kerr again chipped in, this time for birdie-3 and won  the hole.

“Di said she will always remember that chip,” Kerr said.

An Aramakutu bogey on the 18th was good enough to win the hole and send the final to overtime.

Kerr said “nothing had gone right” for Ford throughout the round.

“However, she did come in on a couple of holes for halves . . . it kept us in the game.

“I knew all I had to do was hold the fort because she would come in when needed. And when we teed off the 19th hole, I said to myself ‘my buddy is going to win this hole” . . . game over.”

It is as it probably should be.

No one would dispute the call that Anaru Reedy and Dan Collier are the top two players at Electrinet Park. So it is fitting they will decide who is No.1 this Sunday.

Reigning champion Reedy and Collier took different semifinal paths into the senior men’s club championship final.

Collier, beaten by Reedy in the final last year, brushed aside Zane Boyle 5 and 4 while Reedy’s opponent Sel Peneha withdrew from their semi because of illness.

Tom Reynolds moved a win away from a third intermediate title but could find a brick wall in his way in the form of Ian Loffler.

Both men cruised into the final — Reynolds  disposed of Te Ariki Pomana 5 and 4; 2022 junior champion Loffler thumped giant-killing bottom seedJames Witika 6 and 5.

Steve Phillips has lost two intermediate finals at the Park, but is hoping to go one better at junior level. Phillips, who won an intermediate crown at Queens Park in Invercargill back in the day,  saw off Paul Wellard 4 and 3 in Sunday’s semis.

Standing in his way is Blue Toa, who beat Quentin Peneha 2 and 1.

The endeavour finalists are greenkeeper Pete Tamatea, who defeated Kurei Collier 5 and 4  in their semi, and Shannon Collier (Kurei’s brothers), who toppled top seed Josh Adams on the 15th.

The senior and junior finals are on Sunday. The intermediate and endeavour finals are Sunday week.

WEDNESDAY — Spring Team Challenge putting competition, round 2: Spring Blossoms (T Aramakutu, J McCafferty, S Maisey, J Foot, T Ford) 158 from Spring Chicks 167.

Individual winner: T Ford 29.

Twos: T Ford.

SUNDAY — Men’s stableford: A Pahina 40, I Loffler 39, J Hayes 39, M Christophers 38.

Twos: D Pilitati, J Hayes, I Loffler.

Waikohu

Waikohu turned on the hospitality for locals and visitors alike in its open closing day tournament on Saturday.

Patutahi’s Jason Phillips  finished out of the prizes but it didn’t matter. He had a great day and was full of praise for the tournament, which he said he hoped more people would support next year.

Local duo Val Grace and Larry Green topped the Canadian foursomes stableford played on an altered course. They posted 42 points to beat fellow Waikohu pair Audrey Tamanui-Nunn and Percy Milner by one point.

Jason Devery led an Electrinet Park charge in the men’s stableford.

Devery won the senior division with 39 points, with Park clubmates Matt Henwood (38), Mike Christophers (37) and brother Craig Christophers (37) filling the next spots.

Sonny Ritchie (37) won the junior division.

Kahu Tamanui had a 12-point swing over the weekend — 32 points in the open closing day and a stableford-winning 44 on Sunday.

Sunday — Stableford: K Tamanui 44, T Ruru 40, S Ritchie 37, P Milner 36.

SATURDAY — Waikohu open closing day, Canadian foursomes stableford: V Grace/L Green 42; A Tamanui-Nunn/ P Milner 41; A and T Reeves 40; H Pomana/T Green 38; A Davis/M King 38.

Men’s stableford, senior division: J Devery 39, M Henwood 38, M Christophers 37, C Christophers 37, Taine Lincoln 36.

Junior division: S Ritchie 37, G Holland 34, T Smith 33, K Tamanui 32.

Long drives: J Beattie, J Devery, S Ritchie.

Approaches: A Tamanui-Nunn, M Henwood, K Tamanui.

Canadian foursomes best second shot: V Grace/L Green.

COMING UP: SUNDAY, club competition.