Golf: Remarkable fightback by Hawkes

Titirangi's Wendy Hawkes staged one of the best fightbacks in recent memory to win her second New Zealand women's amateur championship in New Plymouth yesterday.

Hawkes came back from seven down with nine holes remaining to beat fellow New Zealand representative Anita Boon from North Harbour at the second extra hole in the 36-hole final.

The 24-year-old Hawkes, who is listed as from Arrowtown and has spent some time in the south, could not match the birdie blitz from Boon, who extended her 2-up advantage after 18 holes to be 7-up with nine to play as the engravers started to etch her name on the trophy.

Boon, who had been suffering from a back ailment during the tournament, dropped four shots with bogeys at the 11th, 12th, 13th and 17th where she three-putted.

Hawkes produced some remarkable short game play with birdies on the 14th, 16th and 18th where she bagged a 5m putt to send the match to sudden death.

The pair halved the 37th with pars before Hawkes sealed the most unlikely of results with a gimme par on the 38th after Boon could not get up and down from the greenside bunker.

"I don't know what to say, I'm still in shock," Hawkes said. "When I was seven-down I thought it would be good to get a couple back to make it look better.

"My sister Angela kept me positive and told me I could get back in the game and I owed a lot to her positivity.

"My first New Zealand amateur title was special but this is pretty unreal."

It was the first all-New Zealand final since Jan Storey beat Sandra Carey in an all-Waikato contest in 1997 at Hutt Golf Club.

Boon and Hawkes took advantage of the excellent conditions to post 15 birdies between them on the testing Ngamotu course.

Hawkes, the 1999 national amateur winner in Christchurch, birdied the third and seventh to lead 2-up before Boon fought back, chipping in on the eighth and levelling the match by the ninth.

The North Harbour representative produced a devastating run with three birdies in a row to lead 3-up before a Hawkes birdie at the 18th gave Boon a 2-up advantage at the break.

Hawkes, arguably the steadiest golfer in the country, made an uncharacteristic start to the second round with three bogeys on the trot as Boon extended her lead to 5-up after 21 holes.

Three more birdies to the North Harbour No 1 gave her a commanding seven-hole advantage before Hawkes began her remarkable fightback.

Victorian Melanie Holmes-Smith gave Australia their only success when she overcame Masterton teenager Amy Smith 5 and 4 to win the plate.

- NZPA