Golf: North Island champ keen to add NZ crown

By Bob Pearce

Auckland golfer Chris Johns can't wait for the New Zealand amateur championships to start at Remuera in a fortnight.

And after his two-shot victory in the North Island championship at Whitford Park, the 27-year-old national representative must start as one of the favourites.

Johns showed remarkable composure on the drought-ravaged course to shoot a four-round total of 280, four-under par.

His closest challenger was Blair Dibley (Akarana), who shot 70 and 67 yesterday to race up the field. Third was 18-year-old Christchurch golfer Isaac Randall, who had four birdies in a row in a closing round of 68.

After 36 holes Johns was two shots ahead of first-round leader Sung Kim, a 21-year-old Korean from the host club who has been in the country for two years.

After a 73 in the third round Johns' lead was down to one over Eddie Burgess (Tauranga), and two bogeys at the start of the final round saw him headed by Burgess with the rest of the field baying at his heels.

But Burgess never recovered from a triple bogey on the fifth where he lost a ball, and Johns responded with three birdies to make it tough for his pursuers.

Both the par fives on the second nine yielded two-putt birdies and he sank an eight-footer on the 15th to put the issue beyond doubt with a closing round of 70.

"I played really well on Saturday but I putted like a halfwit and I didn't take the chance to put a break on the field," said Johns. "Down the stretch this afternoon I knew that if I birdied the two par fives it would be hard for anyone to make up ground. The putt on the 15th was the clincher.

"You know when you play at this time of year in Auckland the courses are not at their best, but I decided I wouldn't let the course bother me."

Johns won the national title two years ago at Harewood when he was living in Christchurch. He has never played Remuera but relishes the challenge.

Remuera's watered fairways will be a relief for some who struggled with the vagaries of the bounce on Whitford's parched hectares.

Even so, there was some fine golf from national representatives Reon Sayer (Carterton) and Steve Gordon (Redwood Park), who finished on 284 and 285, and Kim, who hung on to finish on 286, level with Bradley Heaven of Remuera.