Golf: Holten holding well as New Zealand continues to cut it

Waikato golfer Mathew Holten was still the best of the Kiwi golfers, in eighth place, after two rounds of the Lake Macquarie International north of Sydney yesterday.

The Te Aroha golfer followed his first round 67 with a one-under par 71 in the second round at Belmont Golf Club for a two-round total of 138, to lie five shots behind leader Mark Leishman from Victoria.

All nine members of the New Zealand Titleist squad, along with Canterbury's Andrew Searle, made the cut to contest the final 36 holes of the international strokeplay event that includes players from England, Ireland, Wales, Scotland, USA, Canada and New Zealand against Australia's best.

The players found conditions tough after heavy overnight rain left the greens slow and marked, with all but one of the Kiwis playing in the afternoon.

Holten is best placed of the New Zealanders to challenge over the final 36 holes with Brad Iles (Bay of Plenty) on two-under par 142 after a second round 74, with Eisenhower representative Josh Geary (Bay of Plenty) and Doug Holloway (Hawke's Bay) on even-par 144 in a share of 45th place.

Others to make the cut included Waikato's Mark Purser and James Gill, Bay of Plenty's Jae An, Auckland's Kevin Chun, Canterbury's Andrew Searle and Wanganui's Riki Kauika, who qualified as one of the two official New Zealand players in the international teams contest.

- HERALD ON SUNDAY