Meanwhile, Christophers could turn defeat into title triumph when the Men’s Handicap Cup champions are crowned this Sunday.
Christophers was hammered 7 and 6 by a rampant Bailey Matoe in their senior semifinal last weekend, but Matoe is unavailable for the final, so Christophers was given the berth.
He acknowledged the performance of Matoe, whom he said was 1-under the card after nine holes.
The other semi between Brad Reynolds and Pete Stewart also featured quality golf.
Stewart was on fire in the front nine, shooting 3-under to be 2-up. A 3-putt on 11 to half the hole let Reynolds off the hook and he came home strong. He won the 12th, 13th, and 15th to go 1-up, lost to a Stewart birdie on 16, but bombed a drive down 18 to a few metres off the green and up and downed for birdie and victory.
The commitment of losing intermediate semifinalist Mike Bond was hailed by opponent Tom Reynolds.
Bond lost 2 and 1 after driving all the way back from a fishing tournament in Whitianga on Saturday night to make his tee time of 8.30am.
Reynolds said Bond led 3-up after 10 holes but simply “ran out of energy”.
“It was a great effort,” said Reynolds, who faces Luke Hayes in the final after he defeated Steve Rolls 2 and 1.
Lindsay Hunt knocked out top qualifier Heath Tupara in the junior semis and will lock clubs in the final with Mason Emery, who beat Tony Leggett.
THURSDAY (March 13) - Gordon’s Pharmacy twilight Stableford: J. Collier 20, P. Dagg 20.
Long drive: D. Collier.
Approach: D. Collier.
Birdie board: A. Ruru, R. Maynard.
Monkey on the back: D. Rameka.
COMING UP: SUNDAY, March 30, Lunken Cup Canadian mixed pairs foursomes, top five pairs to represent Park at the ER Black Cup interclub at Māhia on April 6.
Poverty Bay
Tene Goldsmith showed no respect for his elder on Saturday.
The 78-year-old brushed aside octogenarian Cliff Poole to book a place in the final of the Reynolds Cup men’s handicap matchplay final.
No 1 seed and 7-handicapper Goldsmith, giving Poole seven shots, won 6 and 5. He was 3-over the card when they shook hands.
Facing Goldsmith in the final will be Pat Butler who survived a tense last five holes to beat Keith Marshall on the 18th. Butler, giving five shots, was 4-up with five holes to play and 1-up on the 18th tee.
In associated cup finals this Saturday, Alex Kirkpatrick and Willie Mortleman clash for the Willock Cup while Warwick Thompson and Stu Harbottle will decide the Low Bros Cup.
Harbottle, still smiling smugly after recently beating cohort John Van Helden off the stick for $100, celebrated his 57th birthday by beating Dave Pirimona in Saturday’s semis.
Pete Anderson unleashed the driving beast in his best round of 2025 so far on Saturday.
Anderson responded to a triple-bogey 6 putting debacle on the second by playing the next 16 holes 2-under the card for 72-5-67. He ended his round in style by sinking a 75m sand-wedge shot on the 356m 18th for eagle-2. His 41 points won the division 1 men’s Stableford.
It was one of two eagles on the day. Stefan Andreassen was having a shocker of a round up to the 13th where he holed out with a 7-iron from 140m for a two.
Heading into Sunday morning golf, Mark Norman had to go back a lot of pages on the NZ Golf handicap website to find the last time he shot 76 at Poverty Bay.
Now it’s on page 1 after firing 76-11-65, for 43 points, to win the division 1 Stableford. His previous 76 on his home track was on December 19, 2020 (page 9).
Alan Baldwin had five double-nets in his division 2-winning 100-34-66, for 42.
TUESDAY - Veterans' Stableford: T. Loomis 41, R. Young 40, P. Reid 39, M. Parkes 39, D. Niven 38.
SUNDAY - Men’s Stableford, division 1: M. Norman 43, C. Taewa 38, G. Morley 36.
Division 2: A. Baldwin 42, R. Gibson 39, L. Hewson 39.
Twos: P. Anderson, P. Rickard, A. Baldwin.
Approach: A. Baldwin.
SATURDAY - Reynolds and associated cups men’s handicap matchplay semifinals, Reynolds Cup: T. Goldsmith def C. Poole, P. Butler def K. Marshall.
Willock Cup: A. Kirkpatrick def M. Henwood, W. Mortleman def M. Stewart.
Low Bros Cup: W. Thompson def V. Richardson, S. Harbottle def D. Pirimona.
Men’s Stableford, division 1: P. Anderson 41, R. Clark 38, W. Mortleman 38, C. Simpson 35, T. Goldsmith 35.
Division 2: B. Simpson 39, T. Loomis 38, A. Putnam 36, P. Graham 35, M. Gemmell 34.
Twos: S. Jeune, C. Palmer, S. Andreassen, P. Anderson.
Approach: C. Palmer.
THURSDAY (March 13) - Men’s Stableford, division 1: T. Goldsmith 38, M. Thomas 37, P. Mullooly 36, G. Morley 36, M. Higham 36.
Division 2: J. Nepia 40, G. Clapham 38, C. Morton 36, R. Murphy 36.
Twos: J. Pittar, S. Jeune, C. Dean.
Approach: S. Jeune.
WEDNESDAY (March 12) - Twilight Stableford, women: C. Holland 17.
Men, front 9: B. Talbot 21, W. Tamatea 21, M. Tong 19, S. Fookes 18, D. Dodgshun 17.
Back 9: J. Partington 20, G. Hannah 20, K. Marshall 19, H. Douglas 18, C. Newman 17.
The Craigs Investment Partners Eastland Rescue Helicopter Trust Charity Golf Day is at Awapuni Links on FRIDAY. Assemble at 12 noon for a 12.30pm shotgun start. The draw is -
No 1 tee: Thistle Boys, Richard Foon, Richard Searle.
No 2: MVP, Lynne Holmberg.
No 3: Johnston Associates, Gisborne Fisheries.
No 4: AJ Mack Contracting, Placemakers.
No 5: Westpac 1, Westpac 2, Westpac 3.
No 6: Gisborne Motors, Friday Boys 1.
No 7: Friday Boys 2, Friday Boys 3.
No 8: Sam Willock, Liquorland.
No 9: First Light Frozen, BDO.
No 10: AMFs, A-One.
No 11: Rabobank 1, Rabobank 2.
No 12: Juken NZ, Ben Humphreys.
No 13: ABC Design, EC Electrical Solutions.
No 14: Happy Boys, MTF.
No 15: BMS, Trust Tairāwhiti.
No 16: Draggnett Design 1, Draggnett Design 2.
No 17: King Bees Honey, Emerre and Hathaway.
No 18: Craigs Investment Partners 1, Craigs Investment Partners 2.
Te Puia Hot Springs
A net 64 beat net 63 in round 3 of the Jo Hale Memorial series on Sunday.
Hiria McClutchie won the day with 83-19-64, with Mopey Devery’s 80-17-63 second and Ken Lewis’ 86-22-64 third
The reason why McClutchie triumphed was because the women’s par (68) is two more than the men (66). She played four under her handicap while Devery was three under. Both players also had twos.
SUNDAY - Jo Hale Memorial series, round 3, net: H McClutchie 83-19-64 (women’s par 68); M Devery 80-17- 63 (men’s par 66); K Lewis 86-22-64.
Twos: I. Ngarimu, H. McClutchie, M. Devery.
Tolaga Bay
Rongo Pomana is on the march.
Pomana followed up a 75 on March 2 and 73 on March 9 with another 73 on Sunday.
His round featured only pars (13 of them) and bogeys (5) and the 10-handicapper won the net with 63.
Tim Adamson’s 2-over 70 was highlighted by an eagle-3 on the first hole.
SUNDAY - Stableford: R. Pomana 41, G. Smith 39, M. Yates 39.
Twos: M. Watts, G. Smith.
Eagle on 1: T. Adamson.
Waikohu
Richard Reeves' purple patch continued in the matchplay format at the weekend.
Reeves defeated Tom Smith 2 and 1 in the men’s handicap singles final.
Percy Milner’s best round since May 2023 - 75-9-66 - won him the men’s Stableford with 40 points.
SUNDAY - Men’s Stableford: P. Milner 40, L. Green 35, R. Reeves 32, K. Tamanui 32, L. Green 31.
Women’s Stableford: V. Grace 32, A. Reeves 28, P. Rutene 28.
Twos: R. Reeves, T. Smith, V. Grace.
Men’s handicap singles final: R. Reeves def T. Smith 2 and 1.
Women’s flight final: V. Grace def P. Rutene.
COMING UP: SUNDAY, women’s handicap singles final.
Patutahi
The mercury rose in the scoring department in Sunday’s net competition.
Steve Fookes' best 18-hole score of the year so far led a trio of net 64s in the division 2 men. His 86-22-64 headed off Josh Taylor’s personal-best 87-23-64 and Watene Brown’s three-birdie 80-16-64.
Andy Nimmo entered foreigh territory - sub-80 - to win division 1. Nimmo carded 79-13-66 to win on countback from Dean Pohatu (73-7-66) and Lyall Anania, who had six birdies - including three in a row - in his 71-5-66.
Garth Tattersfield’s 83-18-65 was only good enough for fourth in division 2 but put him in the mix heading into the last couple of weeks of qualifying for the 19-man shootout final.
Tattersfield is sitting in 15th on a total of 269 for his best four nets. Lucian Nickerson leads on 260.
Fourteen bogeys and a sole par on the 18th saw Helen Pomana to 91-24-67 and the women’s net honours.
SUNDAY - Men’s net, division 1: A. Nimmo 66, D. Pohatu 66, L. Anania 66, J. Neilson 67, C. Parker 67.
Division 2: S. Fookes 64, J. Taylor 64, W. Brown 64, G, Tattersfield 65, M. De Luze 68, D. Quinn 69.
Women’s net: H. Pomana 67.
Twos: D. Russell (eagle on 2), J. Neilson, Sel Pohatu, A. Blakeman, H. Harris, B. McKenzie.
Jackpot: J. Neilson, A. Blakeman.
FRIDAY - Meat pack 9-hole Stableford, division 1: C. Parker 22, P. Varey 21, A. Blakeman 21, Blue Toa 20, A. Nimmo 20.
Division 2: D. Somerton 21, C Harris 21, J. Tietjen 21, D. Quinn 20, I. Tietjen 20.
Women’s pennants
The curse of Wairoa struck Poverty Bay again in the latest round of the Tairāwhiti women’s interclub pennants.
The four-strong PB team were reduced to three after Pen Wanklyn slipped and broke her left wrist during the pennants held in conjunction with the Wairoa Women’s Open on Saturday.
That meant the Poverty Bay team could only register three scores and subsequently defaulted.
Wairoa has been something of a casualty course for Poverty Bay over the years, including a player suffering a nasty blow to the head from an errant tee shot, a torn Achilles and a bee sting reaction.
Māhia avoided such dramas to forge a convincing round 3 pennants victory.
The Māhitians totalled 131 points for the aggregate Stableford round - 16 clear of Patutahi (115), with Waikohu third on 113.
Wairoa were fourth on 110, followed by Te Puia Hot Springs on 96 and Electrinet Park on 95 and Poverty Bay.
Heading into round 4 at Waikohu on March 29, Māhia and Patutahi are joint top of the table on 17 points, followed by Waikohu 14, Wairoa 13, Te Puia 11, Poverty Bay 8 and Park 7.
