Golf: Campbell scores a hull-in-one

Michael Campbell plays a shot off NZL81 yesterday - straight onto the chase boat 100m away. Picture / Fotopress

Michael Campbell's form on the golf course over the past year has been lean.

But if he can bring the dead-eye touch he showed on the water yesterday to Gulf Harbour for the New Zealand Open, he'll be in the hunt for honours.

New Zealand professional Campbell, Australian hotshot and world No 38 player Craig Parry, and rising English star Nick Dougherty went sailing on Team New Zealand's America's Cup yacht NZL81 yesterday.

Responding to a bet from Grant Dalton, managing director of the Emirates-sponsored team, that he could not land a shot on the team's chase boat, about 100m behind, Campbell responded with a nautical hole-in-one to the delight of the crew and his fellow professionals.

Parry, 39, and like Campbell a past winner of the Holden-sponsored Open, won the Heineken Classic in Melbourne last weekend, and is a leading contender this weekend.

"It was great," the stocky Victorian, who has had 21 professional tour victories including two on the tough US PGA Tour, said of his boat ride yesterday.

"I'm a keen boatie and this was a special experience. You don't get an opportunity like this every day."

Dougherty, 22, one of Europe's rapid improvers, achieved his debut European Tour win at the Caltex Masters in Singapore late last month.

"It was fantastic fun and a great experience," said the Liverpool-born Dougherty.

Team New Zealand skipper Dean Barker is among the celebrities taking part in today's pro-am at Gulf Harbour, which is hosting its inaugural Open.

The $1.5 million Open is co-sanctioned with the European Tour for the first time and that has significantly enhanced the quality of the 156-strong field which tees off tomorrow morning.