Golf: Sowden back on home turf

Pam Sowden, who learned to play on the Pupuke course, has returned home from the European professional tour to become North Harbour's golf development manager.

Now 28, she was something of a golfing prodigy before teenagers started to dominate the game here.

At 15 she played in the Auckland women's team at the national tournament alongside Marnie McGuire, who went on to become New Zealand's most successful woman professional.

Sowden played number one for the inaugural North Harbour team, who won the interprovincial title at Titirangi in 1995. The same year she was in the New Zealand team who beat Australia in the Tasman Cup.

She spent four years at the University of Oregon in the United States, playing golf and earning a sociology degree, before turning professional, playing first on the US Futures Tour and for the past two years on the full European Tour.

"I qualified 11th for the tour in 2002 and I kept my card last season, but this year I've played six events and made three cuts," she said. "It's really cut-throat out there.

"I wasn't really getting ahead in terms of making money. You need to finish in the top 10 or 20. There isn't a tournament every week so your expenses mount up.

"Basically I got sick of living out of a suitcase. I've played only four games in the last couple of months but I'm intending to combine the job with North Harbour with playing on the Australian circuit."

Sowden is also coaching at The Lakes nine-hole course near Silverdale, which is run by her father, Des, who was a fixture as her caddie in her teenage years.

Development managers have been appointed in districts around the country and will be targeting junior golf in clubs and schools.

Sowden's initial focus will be on the introductory clinics which North Harbour Golf is promoting with the start of daylight saving.

The idea behind this is to provide a friendly and relaxed entry into golf for women. At the end of the clinics the women will be invited to a fun day at The Lakes course.

New Zealand's leading women professionals are now Lynnette Brooky and Gina Scott, both of whom have had a good year on the European tour. McGuire, who retired this year, has been involved in the preparation of the three-strong team for the Espirito Santo world amateur tournament in Puerto Rico.

THE resignation of Anne Fitzpatrick as executive director of Women's Golf through a family illness is widely regretted.

But it may advance the cause of amalgamation of the men's and women's administrations.

Women's Golf has opted for a temporary replacement for Fitzpatrick, who supported amalgamation, and a marriage of the two bodies can't be far away.

In the meantime, there might be an opportunity to establish a better calendar of major events. Last weekend New Zealand's top women golfers played in the 54-hole North Shore Classic.

But this week they headed to Christchurch, while the Auckland provincial tournament at Middlemore struggled for low-handicap entries.