Golf: 14-year-old heads Pukekohe pack

By BOB PEARCE

Fourteen-year-old Enu Chung was a model of consistency in very difficult conditions to head the qualifiers for the Auckland women's provincial championship at Pukekohe yesterday.

Chung had two rounds of three-over 76 to be two shots clear of national champion Wendy Hawkes and Keun-Ji Lim from the Grange.

One shot further back was La Nahi (Onewhero), who shared the best round of the day, 75, with Lim.

Fifth qualifier was another talented Korean youngster, Da Som Lee from Pakuranga, who is only 12.

At the other end of the age scale among the 16 qualifiers for the matchplay were veterans Cathy Jordan (Grange) and Joan McLean (Pukekohe), both of whom played for Auckland before Chung was born.

Last year's top qualifier, Angela Hawkes, had rounds of 79 and 80, which still saw her comfortably in the championship division.

The Hawkes twins, originally from Auckland, have played their representative golf for Otago in recent years as they spend much of the year with their coach, John Griffin, in the south.

This year Wendy, who won the national title in dramatic fashion last year, will miss the interprovincial teams' event in Taranaki because she will be away with the national Espirito Santo side in Malaysia.

She has been in good form in Auckland tournaments, winning three or four and impressing with the quality of her short game.

Yesterday she shot a three-over 76 in the morning, when conditions were at their worst with heavy rain around midday, which had the organisers on the point of suspending play.

In the afternoon she was consistent, but slipped to 78 with a couple of misreads on the generally fast and true greens.

Lim's afternoon 75 was notable for some excellent iron play, but she faltered with a three-putt on the final green.

The provincial championship is the final trial for Auckland's team at the national interprovincial.

They were beaten semifinalists last year at North Shore with a mixture of youth and experience and they are likely to have much the same mix this time.

Nahi, last year's No 1, is a doubtful starter and Yu Jin Bang is concentrating on her studies. But Chung, Brigit Holford (Grange) and Lim remain and should provide a solid core.

Contenders to join them include 14-year-old Natasha Krishna (Auckland), Da Som Lee and Esther Forster (Grange).