Pro-am low scores tipped

Low scoring is confidently being anticipated for the Eketahuna Masterton pro-am golf tournament, which will see 18 holes being played at Eketahuna on Saturday and another 18 holes at Lansdowne on Sunday.
The spate of warm weather has both courses in near prime condition and, with several in-form players among the 37 professionals taking part, several sub-par scores are on the cards.
Not all of the pros who entered the event could be catered for, as evidenced by a waiting list of 15, and those who made the cut will play alongside three amateurs in each of the two rounds, the most notable of whom will be the guest of honour, former All Black Allan Hewson, these days a keen golfer who plays off a 12 handicap.
Last year's winner, Andrew Green from Wellington, will be back to defend his title and is expected to again be a leading contender for the major spoils. But former New Zealand and Australian Open victor Peter Fowler, an Aussie based in Auckland, will probably start a clear favourite.
Fowler has an impressive golfing curriculum vitae. He won the Australian Open in 1983 and partnered Wayne Grady to success in the World Cup team's competition in 1989. Fowler also took the best individual performance prize there.
In 1993 Fowler added the New Zealand Open to the list of his successes and that same year also saw him take out the BMW International Open on the European tour.
Fowler's form has been noteworthy too. In December, he was third in the Australian PGA championship and last month he won the Tasmanian senior championship, posting a course record of 63 in the final round to come from behind and win by two strokes. Then on Monday he finished second-equal behind Hamish Robertson (Taihape) in the Quinovic Waikanae pro-am.
The 2010 calendar year was a memorable one for Michael Hendry, who looks set to keep Fowler honest. He was a runaway winner of the New Zealand PGA Tour Order of Merit - although he played in only nine events - and after qualifying for the OneAsia Tour he enjoyed a stellar first year there, winning the Indonesian Open and finishing the year in third place on the moneylist.
Hendry was first professional in the Carrus Tauranga Open (behind Masterton amateur Ben Campbell), won the Muriwai Open, was fourth in the Wairakei Open and was second in the Port Taranaki Open.
Gareth Paddison, Doug Holloway, Jared Pender, Troy Ropiha, Leighton James and Mathew Holten have to be considered as serious title contenders this weekend too.
Paddison won last year's Wairakei Open by five shots in the most trying of conditions and he finished 24th on the Order of Merit for the OneAsia Tour, good enough to earn him his full card for that tour this year.
Holloway was sixth on last year's Queensland Tour Order of Merit, where he has been concentrating his play in recent years, while Pender was second on New Zealand's Order of Merit in 2010, winning the Harewood pro-am along the way.
Ropiha won the 2010 Port Taranaki Open, James scored his maiden win as a pro at Kaikoura last October, while Holten was joint winner of the Jimmy Napier Martinborough event last year.
Among the new professionals in this weekend's field are Pieter Zwart and Pat Harold, who were second and third respectively in the New Zealand PGA qualifying school of 2011, and their efforts will attract interest.