Golf: Teen pair in top form

Wellington teenagers Sarah Nicholson and Kyla Welsh yesterday led the charge of the younger players in Nelson by winning the foursomes in the lead-in to the national amateur championships.

Nicholson, 17, and Welsh, 18, scored a one-shot win over Taranaki's Olivia Hartley and Jenna Hurst (North Harbour).

Hartley, who has returned from a scholarship in the United States, and Hurst led after the first round with a one-over par 74 at the Nelson Golf Club - a one-shot lead over Belinda Kerr (Australia) and Jenny Park (Otago), and Debbie Smith (Motueka) and Robyn White (Nelson).

Nicholson and Welsh, who opened with a three-over par 76, managed to repeat the performance in the afternoon, finishing with 152, while Hartley and Hurst could only manage a second round 79.

Kerr and Park finished a shot further back ahead of Smith and White and junior internationals Enu Chung (Auckland) and Penny Newbrook (Rotorua).

The Lion Foundation-sponsored championships begin today.

Meanwhile, North Harbour's winning run ended on the third day of the Tower Freyberg Masters interprovincial at the Whitford Park Golf Club yesterday. Harbour were pipped 3-2 by Canterbury in the fifth round.