Golf: Teenager sets a blazing pace

Rotorua's Sam Hunt has positioned himself to become the youngest player to win the strokeplay title at the New Zealand amateur golf championships.

Hunt, aged 16, shot a five-under 67 in the second round at Mt Maunganui yesterday to be four shots clear.

The world schools champion was at 12-under 132. His nearest challenger, Anthony Doyle, of Christchurch, fired 72 for a total of 136.

The hot scoring of Monday continued, with the cut being made at four-over 148 for the top 64 players, plus ties, the lowest since the introduction of four-round strokeplay qualifying.

Tauranga's George Kinghorn, who joined Hunt, Brent McEwan (St Clair) and Scott Thrupp (Manukau) with yesterday's best round of 67, moved to third at 137, a shot clear of fellow Bay of Plenty representative Nick Davey, of Mt Maunganui.

Thirty-two players are on even-par 144 or better after two rounds, but some notable names struggled to make the cut, including the defending champion, Eddie Burgess, of Tauranga, who ended on 148.

Most attention fell on Hunt, who hit three birdies and an eagle in ahot spell during the middle of his round.

After a bogey-free round on Monday, Hunt dropped shots on the second and the seventh before birdies and an eagle three moved him to five-under for the day.

"I didn't hit the ball quite as well today, but I made some really good putts, especially some par putts in the final few holes," Hunt said.

It is a busy time for Hunt, who leaves next week with his Rotorua Boys' High School team to defend their world secondary schools title in England. Hunt was the leading individual when they won in Ireland last year.

His schoolmate Bradley Iles is tied for ninth while the other members of the Rotorua team, Mathew Holten (145) and 14-year-old Jae An (148) qualified for the final 36 holes of strokeplay today.

The most notable player to miss the cut was the 1997 national champion, Chris Johns, of Auckland, who shot a four-over 76 yesterday for a 36-hole total of 149.

- NZPA