Lansdowne golf open soars

Entries in the Trust House 72 hole Wairarapa Open Stroke Play Tournament are higher than they have been for some years, with a full field carded for next weekend at Lansdowne.
The full field of 108 includes 12 women, while the men have 72 in the Senior or Open event and 24 in the Intermediates. Entries were still coming in when I was up there on Monday but there will be quite a few disappointed.
The fact the tournament counts towards the Wellington and New Zealand Amateurs Order of Merit does have quite a bearing, as entries have come from far and wide.
Lowest handicap is held by Ewen Westergaard on plus 2.4, while Josh Munn and Tom Brockelsby, both of whom performed well at the NZ Amateur Champs, are looking likely contenders.
Last weekend was a busy one for interclub, with all four of the Wellington interclub teams in action on Saturday, while the last round of the Marquis Shield took place on Sunday at Featherston.
Starting with the latter event, while Masterton went down in a close contest with Martinborough they were able to claim two trophies overall, more than any other club except Mahunga. The Seniors made no race of the Workman Cup, played off the stick with only two losses in the whole competition. Masterton also claimed the Wooden Spoon a trophy, which seems to have spent a lot of time residing above the bar at Lansdowne.
In the Wellington Inter-clubs on Saturday, what could well have been a clean sweep for Masterton sadly turned out as two wins and two losses. Division 1 playing the promotion-relegation contest for the Presidents Salver went agonisingly close against Manor Park just going down 7/8, with two one hole losses in the foursomes making all the difference. Their match against Wainuiomata in two weeks' time will decide their future in Division 1.
Division 3 let the side down a bit beaten 8/7 against Waikanae at Lansdowne Toby Tuoro, "Muzza" Wolland, Rob Carseldine and Geoff Masters all won their singles, while the balance came from the four ball events and halves in the singles. I saw Kevin Mackay waving "The Chopper" around (the new trophy for worst result), so he can claim something at least for his efforts. The result means that Waikanae slip by Masterton, who now drop to third place on the table.
On the other hand, Division 7 dealt a crushing 14/1 defeat to a hapless Boulcott Farm side on that team's home course. Leith Comer would have come under a certain amount of ribbing as the only contributor to Boulcott's points, his singles loss compounded by the receipt of the "Rear Enders Trophy".
Finally, the Division 11 side achieved a very satisfying and quite comprehensive win over Mahunga on the Mahunga course. The 10/5 victory came from single victories to Wayne O'Donnell, Jamie Brunton, Brian Pollock, Trevor Smith, Mike Falloon, Terry Harrison and Steve Hemingway, while the balance came from three four ball wins.
Results from last Sunday's stroke round:
Men Group One: Ian Buchanan 74 1, Jeff Ogg 76 2, Hira Renata 81 3.
Men Group 2: Choi Jackson 88 1, Kevin Hooper 89 2, Brett Gould 90 3.
Rosie Gould took the women's prize while nearest the pin awards went to Nigel Udy and Phil Rutene.
On Monday in cloudy, mild conditions 42 Vets played in their weekly Stableford.
Women: Isobelle Weaver 27 1, Jill Chandler 23 2, Pamela Andrew 23 3.
Men Group 1: Charles Anderson 27 1, Geoff Davies 27 2, Robin Whitehead 25 3.
Men Group 2: Brian Henson 31 1, Harvey Ward 28 2, John Worley 25 3.
On Tuesday, 28 women took part in a Home Pennant Stableford with some good scores achieved.
Silver: Jeanette McNae 39 1, Valda Anderson 37 2, Sereana Phillipps 36 3.
Darlington Drilling Bronze: Pam Griffith 34 1, Janice Hayes 32 2, Ngaire Stevens 30 3.
Nearest the pin prizes went to Mary Watson (Graeme Jones 8th) and Sereana Phillipps (New World 18th).
Masterton and Featherston meet in the final of the Tilson Salver to be played on a neutral course later this month.
Several pennants matches set for Monday.