Chris Mason tees off No 10 in the second match against Hastings. Photo / Dave Murdoch
Chris Mason tees off No 10 in the second match against Hastings. Photo / Dave Murdoch
The first of three rounds of the Greenwood Cup has been held in Dannevirke with the remaining two to be played in Hastings in November.
The tournament pits the best golfers in Hawke’s Bay against each other, the best 10 in each club ranked and playing match-play.
The Dannevirke Greenwood Cup team after thrashing Maraenui 7 1/2 to 2 1/2. Photo / Dave Murdoch
At the end of a match wins and draws are tallied up and after five rounds the winner is found.
City clubs are favoured, with the greater number of golfers to draw from, but there is a Country Cup to be won by the smaller clubs – Karamu, Ongaonga, Central and Dannevirke.
The Greenwood Cup has been running in this current format since 1953 which was the last time Dannevirke actually won it.
Current Life Member of Dannevirke RB Dailey (at 92) was in that team and was on hand to watch proceedings over the tournament weekend earlier this month.
Team captain Craig Nash holds a photo of the 1979 Dannevirke Greenwood Cup team of which he was a member. Photo / Dave Murdoch
Captain of this year’s Dannevirke team Craig Nash has represented the club in the Greenwood Cup since 1979 on and off but four times in all. He says representing your club is the best thing in golf.
The Dannevirke Greenwood Cup team with their T-shirts after presentation at the golf club. Photo / Dave Murdoch
The team was presented the weekend prior to the tournament with playing T-shirts sponsored by Dannevirke Dairy Supplies. The players and their ranking are: 1 Rhys Harold, 2 Brad Truesdale, 3 Patrick Harold, 4 Craig Nash, 5 William Harold, 6 Chris Mason, 7 Greg Vigers, 8 Syd Hikawai, 9. Clay Lochead, 10 Brad Dippie, with manager Bryan Burt.
With the highest handicap just +4 and with home course advantage expectations were very positive.
On the Saturday, the team played Maraenui and in perfect conditions won the match for the first time ever, seven and a half games to two and a half.
Rhys Harold (right), Dannevirke No 1 walks off the 18th green having halved his match with his Maraenui opponent. Photo / Dave Murdoch
Some of the best golf was played by Patrick Harold who came back from three down after his opponent had scored a hole-in-one on the 14th hole to win one up!
The afternoon match against Hastings ended in defeat although a number of the games were very close affairs.
Next morning the start of the games was delayed until the All Blacks v Ireland was completed. The golf club catered breakfast for 50 while the game was shown on the big screen.
Dannevirke had drawn the third of the city clubs in a row and Napier won, although once again some games were close.
Some idea of the calibre of the competition was the number who drove the first par four green from the tee and played an iron into the par five fourth green for two.
Club captain Mike Matthews says although they were disappointed he was very proud of the team who still have the opportunity to win the Country Cup in November.
He was also very proud of the green keepers for the superb condition of the course described by one out-of-town competitor as “perfect for match play with an opportunity to score around every corner”.
The final two rounds will be played on November 18-19.
Dave Murdoch is a part-time photo-journalist working for the Bush Telegraph and based at Dannevirke. He has covered any community story telling good news about the district for the past 10 years.
