Golf: Nicholson wins title with playoff birdie

By BOB PEARCE

Wainuiomata golfer Sarah Nicholson birdied the second playoff hole to win the national under-21 strokeplay title at Pakuranga yesterday.

The 16-year-old and Penny Newbrook from the Springfield Club in Rotorua were equal on 149, three over par, after 36 holes on the parched east Auckland course.

Newbrook, the defending champion, had the chance to win on the first extra hole, but three-putted from the fringe to halve the hole in bogey.

She parred the next, but Nicholson - who eagled the hole during her second round of 73 - was on for two and made certain of her winning birdie.

Third equal, one shot back from the leaders, were Natalie Storck (North Shore) and Amy Smith (Masterton).

The 17-year-old Storck could have been in the playoff, but three-putted her last hole.

Smith, who is 16, had a hole in one on the sixth hole on her way to a 72 in the afternoon, the best round of the tournament.

The top 16 in the strokeplay qualify for the matchplay championship, which begins this morning.

The semifinals and final will be played tomorrow.

* The New Zealand women's golf team are pleased with their preparation for the Queen Sirikit Cup, which tees off in Hong Kong today.

The trio of Tina Howard (Taupo), Hee-Jeong Chun (Wellington) and Anita Boon (North Harbour) take on 12 other teams from the Asia-Pacific region in the annual team event.

New Zealand won the title at Paraparaumu in Wellington in 1999, but slipped to ninth last year in Taiwan.

The tournament is played over 54 holes of strokeplay, with the best two scores to count each day. Australia, with Rebecca Stevenson, Helen Beatty and New Zealand strokeplay winner Nadina Taylor, are hot favourites to claim an eighth win.