Golf: National Club Champs

Springfield completed a remarkable hat-trick for Bay of Plenty golf by taking out the national club championship at the Pakuranga club.

The Rotorua club proved too steady over the final round to beat Paraparaumu Beach and Golf City (Palmerston North) in a close fight.

The win by two shots completed the hat-trick after Bay of Plenty won their first New Zealand inter-provincial title in Whangarei and the recent invitational teams event in Invercargill. Three Springfield team members, Mark Smith, Terry Hong and Jae An, were in the winning Bay of Plenty team.

Bay of Plenty trailed Paraparaumu by a shot halfway through the 36-hole strokeplay teams' event, comprising the winning clubs from the 17 districts in New Zealand. Each club had four players, with the best three scores counting.

Only five shots covered the top five teams after 18 holes, with Paraparaumu leading on an even-par 216, with Wellington representatives Peter Smithson, David James and Andrew McNair all scoring even-par 72s.

Springfield were one shot back, led by a one-under par 71 from Craig van der Nagel, with Christchurch a further two shots adrift on 219, a shot clear of Golf City and a further shot to the Grange.

The battle remained intense in the second round, with Springfield proving too steady, scoring 218 as Hong and An carded 72s in the tough conditions and New Zealand representative Smith a two-over 74.

Paraparaumu managed a steady five-over 221 in the afternoon, but were unable to break through.

Golf City equalled the two-over 218 from Springfield for the best three scores. They were led by a magnificent display from Shaun Richards, who was the leading individual with five-under 139, with a morning 69 the best of the tournament.