Golf: Door to Heaven far from closed

By BOB PEARCE

Bradley Heaven finished top New Zealand amateur in the New Zealand Open, two shots behind Tiger Woods, but he has failed to make the first six-man shortlist for the New Zealand team for the world team championships in Malaysia in October.

The 21-year-old from the Remuera Club in Auckland is studying at the University of Toledo in Ohio. After qualifying for the open field, he recorded a 72-hole total of 281, three under par on the testing Paraparaumu course, and finished equal 10th.

Last November in the US, Heaven won the Savane College All-America Classic, restricted to the top 25 collegiate golfers in the US. Previous winners include Woods in 1995, David Duval in 1991 and Davis Love in 1984.

New Zealand will send a team of three to the Eisenhower Trophy world championship, and the six players selected for leadup tournaments are Eddie Lee, Glyn Delany, Ben Gallie, Sam Hunt, Brad Shilton and Tim Wilkinson.

Yesterday NZ Golf Association operations manager Phil Aickin said the door was not shut on Heaven, or anyone else.

"January was the first chance we've had to see Bradley in 18 months and we have yet to establish how available he is," Aickin said.

"We have a big buildup planned for our team, which will involve time in Malaysia in May, (which is) likely to be a big month for him in the United States.

"The selectors have some very talented players to choose from and they have nominated a number of events for contenders to play so that they can judge them on a level playing field."

The competition for the team has been heightened because countries are now restricted to three players, rather than the four involved when New Zealand won the Eisenhower in Canada in 1992.

There is a precedent for a player studying in the US to be chosen for the New Zealand Eisenhower team.

In the 1980s, Greg Turner played in Hong Kong while studying at Oklahoma.