Golf: Paddison breezes to victory

2015 Barfoot and Thompson Akarana Open Champion Gareth Paddison.

Wellington professional Gareth Paddison showed his liking for windy conditions as he breezed to victory at the Barfoot and Thompson Akarana Open today.

Paddison who held a narrow overnight lead was all class today finishing off with a fourth consecutive 66 and a handsome four stroke victory.

While Richard Lee, Troy Rophia, Josh Geary and Josh Munn made charges at the lead during the day the conditions got the better off most players, with their challenges falling by the wayside on the back nine.

Munn would have given Paddison the biggest scare as the young amateur whipped round the front nine with an eagle and two birdies to climb the leader board. Further birdies at the 10th and 12th saw Munn reach 12 under par and within two shots of Paddison's lead. However a costly three putt on the 14th ruined any real chance that Munn had. Although he fought back well with birdies on his final two holes to claim outright second place and leading amateur honours, as he did at the Lawnmaster Classic.

While Paddison started his day strongly with birdies at the 1st and 3rd hole, he was unable to extend his lead as Ropiha birdied the 1st and 2nd . The key for Paddison came over holes five to nine, which were all playing extremely difficult in the gusting winds. Paddison was able to negotiate each hole with a par, as his nearest rivals struggled.

Turning at 12 under par for the tournament Paddison had amassed a three shot lead over Ropiha and Lee and all three started the back nine well with birdies on the 10th. While Paddison bogeyed the 11th hole it was Lee's double bogey after finding the water that proved to be more costly and saw him slip too far behind to challenge. Paddison picked up a further shot on the 12th after powering a drive 340 metres with the use of the strong tail wind. Further shots picked up at the 15th and 17th gave Paddison the luxury of an enjoyable walk down the 18th and a comfortable par saw him win his second Charles Tour event.

Paddison was pleased with his game today. "It was very tricky today, the winds play havoc on your approach shots, drives and even your putts, especially with the greens quicker like they were today. I was lucky as coming from Wellington and practicing a bit there makes it easier to play in these conditions. I hit the ball on the low side, so it did suit me, but I hit it great out there today, so I couldn't complain about my ball striking. I was in control the whole way round."

"These events are great preparation for me. I have this week and then Muriwai next week before a week off in Wellington before heading to Korean for two events. These are great in the sense that it gives you four rounds of competition golf and you have to play really well round here to win one of these. It's a great stepping stone for teaching young amateurs and guys that haven't had the taste of pro golf to see if they can test themselves and win one against guys like me who have been out here for thirteen years."

Paddison who has won two Charles Tour events and five times on the tier two level in Australasia feels like he is now ready to take his game to the next level and that a big win is just around the corner.

" I'm going to concentrate on the One Asia and Australasian Tour this year and I'm really determined on winning on the One Asia Tour or winning one of the big ones on the Australasian Tour. I've been out here long enough where while you never get tired of winning the tier two type events you really want to win one of the million dollar events, which are the One Asian events or the tier one events in Aussie. I feel like I've done my time and now is time to step up and it doesn't feel like it's too far away and winning in a week like this helps so much as well."

Paddison will have the chance to continue on his winning way when he tee's it up at the Autex Muriwai Open on the Charles Tour next week.

Photo Caption : 2015 Barfoot and Thompson Akarana Open Champion Gareth Paddison

2015 Barfoot and Thompson Akarana Open
Akarana Golf Club (Par 70)
Final Scores

264 Gareth Paddison (P) 66 66 66 66
268 Joshua Munn (Manawatu) 63 72 68 65
270 Dongwoo Kang (P) 69 68 65 68, Josh Geary (P) 61 73 66 70, Richard Lee (P) 66 69 65 70, Troy Ropiha (P) 68 65 66 71
271 Jared Pender (P) 67 66 70 68
272 Tae Koh (Manukau) 65 73 66 68
273 Nick Coxon (Narrows) 71 68 69 65, Jim Cusdin (P) 66 67 70 70
274 Sam An (P) 69 65 71 69
275 Kadin Neho (Whangarei) 68 65 69 73
276 Brad Shilton (P) 70 64 72 70, Vaughan McCall (Gore) 70 67 66 73, Doug Holloway (P) 63 67 72 74
277 James Beale (North Shore) 71 71 67 68, Henry Spring (Whakatane) 67 67 71 72
278 Woonchul Na (P) 69 69 70 70
279 Harry Bateman (P) 70 68 68 73
280 Sam Vincent (Lochiel) 70 72 71 67, Mark Purser (P) 72 71 67 70, Chang Gi Lee (Pupuke) 68 72 69 71, Daniel Pearce (P) 68 67 69 76
281 Shaun Jones (P) 70 70 67 74, Victor Janin (P, France) 68 67 71 75, Nick Gillespie (P) 63 70 70 78, Grant Moorhead (P) 64 73 65 79
282 Joshua Leitch (Maungakiekie) 73 68 69 72
283 James Gibellini (P, Australia) 70 69 75 69, Dale Williamson (Australia) 70 72 70 71, Steven Heyes (P) 71 69 70 73, Kieran Muir (P) 70 72 67 74
284 Mason Lee (The Grange) 70 68 75 71, Peter Lee (P) 64 69 79 72, Denzel Ieremia (St. Andrews of Hamilton (Hamilton)) 72 66 73 73
285 Craig Hamilton (P) 69 68 76 72, Brad Hayward (P) 70 67 74 74
286 Lachie McDonald (Marton) 72 71 72 71, Tadhg Campbell (Muriwai) 67 72 75 72, Jon Bevitt (P) 69 74 70 73, Kyle Wong (P) 70 76 67 73
287 Julian Fowler (Northland) 76 70 73 68, Alex Neely (Bay of Islands Kerikeri Incorporated) 74 72 69 72, Kevin Koong (Huapai) 67 77 69 74, Wesley Jeon (Whitford Park) 69 73 65 80
288 Charlie Hillier (Te Puke) 67 73 75 73
289 Chase McKeown (Akarana) 71 74 70 74
290 Minsoo Ko (P) 73 70 73 74
291 Fraser Wilkin (P) 67 75 74 75, Harry Hillier (Te Puke) 73 69 72 77
292 Leonard Powell (Clarks Beach) 71 74 75 72, Cody Harper (P) 69 71 76 76, Steven Han (P) 72 69 73 78
294 Samuel Jones (Manaia) 66 77 75 76, Ryan Chisnall (Greenacres) 65 79 73 77
295 Christian Nitsche (Whangarei) 72 73 74 76
296 Agni Bhorkar (Riverside) 68 74 79 75, Reid Hilton (Russley) 72 72 75 77, Henry Bryden (Russley) 70 73 73 80
299 Jake Meenhorst (Huapai) 72 73 77 77, George Helsby (Royal Auckland) 70 76 75 78
306 Jake Lee (Huapai) 75 70 81 80
312 Adam Vining (Russley) 71 75 86 80