Golf: Smail shows gratitude for help

By BOB PEARCE

Japan Open winner David Smail will repay some of the help he had from Waikato golf by playing in a $10,000 pro-am in Hamilton in February.

The tournament, to be sponsored by Perry Aggregates, will pair around 50 professionals with amateur teams to raise funds for Waikato junior programmes.

Smail, who won for the first time in Japan last month, has committed to playing in the pro-am at the Hamilton Golf Club on February 28.

He was a member of Waikato junior teams along with successful professionals Phil Tataurangi, Steven Alker and Michael Long.

These three are unable to play this year because of commitments in the United States.

But Brad Shilton, a member of the Eisenhower amateur team who came fifth in Malaysia last weekend, hopes to be back as a pro to play in the tournament that helped in his amateur days.

A measure of the province's recent success is the fact that five of the 18 members in the national golf academy are from Waikato.

Perry Aggregates, which recently provided 250 truck and trailers of sand for bunkering on the Kauri Cliffs course at Matauri Bay, in Northland, hopes to extend the pro-am to a full professional tournament in due course.