Luke Toomey will be looking to make a three-peat at the Carrus Open next week. Photo / George Novak
Luke Toomey will be looking to make a three-peat at the Carrus Open next week. Photo / George Novak
Golf New Zealand's national tournament season has teed off in the Bay of Plenty bringing a "festival of golf" to the region.
The back-to-back tournaments will bring hundreds of golfers from around New Zealand and overseas to the Bay's best golf courses across the next few weeks.
The season began at the Whakatane Golf Club last week with 84 golfers competing in the North Island Stroke Play and Bay of Plenty Open.
This week, the Jennian Homes Charles Tour event begins at the Christies Floorings Mount Open at the Mount Maunganui Golf Club from September 22 to 25.
The Carrus Open will round out the month at the Tauranga Golf Club from September 29 to October 2.
Mount Maunganui Golf Club general manager Mike Williams said it was the first time the Mount Open and Carrus tournaments were being played back-to-back.
Williams said about 110 golfers were playing in the Mount Open and Carrus, with players from Auckland, Otago, Tauranga, Whakatane, Rotorua and Taupo - and as far as Samoa and Australia.
The Mount Open and Carrus were cancelled last year because of Covid-19 restrictions and their return this year meant a boost for the local economy, Williams said.
The back-to-back tournaments meant many of the golfers would stay the full two weeks to play in both events adding to visitor nights in the Bay, he said.
"It is huge."
Williams said junior golfers played nine holes with some of New Zealand's leading professionals as part of a Futures Pro-Am at the Mount Open yesterday.
That was followed by a dinner hosted by retired New Zealand rower and Olympic gold medalist Eric Murray.
This weekend will be the All Abilities Open for golfers with disabilities, as well as a Futures Festival for any young person in the Bay of Plenty community wanting to give golf a go.
Tauranga Golf Club manager Michelle Towersey said the Carrus Open would be a chance to showcase the course.
"It is a great opportunity for the players who have been a bit starved of competitive golf.
"Our groundkeepers get excited about preparing the course for the event."
Towersey said the tournament was also a chance for the wider golfing community to see some of the top players in action in their own backyard in Tauranga.
Golfers to watch out for included local golfers and former Carrus champions Luke Toomey, Mark Brown, and Josh Geary.
"Luke has won twice in a row in 2019 and 2020. Mark won in 2014, 2015, and 2017. We didn't run it in 2016. Josh won in 2013.
"Our very own Jim Cusdin also won in 2011."
The Carrus Open would also feature a Futures Pro-Am for junior golfers on September 27 and a Futures Festival on October 2. Kiwi mental health advocate and television personality Mike King was a guest speaker at an evening event during the week, where spectators and golfers can donate towards the I Am Hope charity.
Mitchell Kale. Photo / Supplied
Bay of Plenty number one and Tauranga Golf Club member Mitchell Kale, who is playing all three events, said he was looking forward to teeing off the finishing stretch of competitive golf in his own backyard.
"It's always nice to play well when you're around home and especially around this golf course.
"Every tournament I play, I try to play my best. It would be great to peak for the Jennian Homes Charles Tour events in a couple of weeks, so I'm looking forward to testing my game under tournament conditions before them."
Taylor-Rose Perrett. Photo / Supplied
Bay of Plenty women's number one Taylor-Rose Perrett said she was also looking to test herself against her peers over the next few weeks.
Perrett, who studies at the University of Waikato doing a Bachelor of Health, Sport and Human Performance, is returning to competitive golf after a back injury.
Last week's events were the first of a three-event stretch for Perrett.
"I've been off with an injury, so I'm keen to see how my game and body holds up," she said.
Kale finished tied seventh, while Perret finished ninth, in the Bay of Plenty Open and North Island Stroke Play last week.
Wellington's Sam Marsters was crowned the 2022 North Island and Bay of Plenty Open Men's Stroke Play champion. Titirangi Golf Club member Amy Han dominated the North Island and Bay of Plenty Women's Stroke Play, winning her first national championship by an astonishing 12 shots.
"I'm really honoured to win the Bay of Plenty Open and North Island Stroke Play.
"All my hard work paid off. I'm really happy to win and I'll make sure I keep practising to improve my game so I can feel like this plenty more times in the future."
- Zoe Hunter's fiance Hayden Beard is competing in the Carrus Open.
