Golf: Waikato pair bag victory with a 73

Te Awamutu pair Brad Shilton and Glenn Millin battled the Dunedin rain for a four-stroke win in the foursomes at the New Zealand amateur championship at Chisholm Park today.

For the first time since the foursomes became part of the championships in 1927, only 18 instead of the usual 36 holes were played after steady rain forced an 85-minute postponement.

When play resumed, Shilton and Millin promptly went from two over after nine holes to plus-five with a triple bogey on the par-four 10th. A run of pars then followed before they holed a 13m birdie putt at the par-five 14th, capping that off with a birdie from four metres at the 16th and a two-putt birdie at the 17th.

While their 73 delighted the Waikato representatives, who were combining at the national championships for the fourth time, they were startled to learn that not only was their two-over 73 the winning score but they were clear by four strokes. Sharing second were Josh Geary of Mt Maunganui and Jonathan Wright of North Shore, Paraparaumu Beach's David James and Andrew McNair, and Sam Parsons of Greenacres and Windsor's Brad Stuart.

Parsons and Stuart made a winning move with a run of five threes from the ninth only to ruin their work with a quadruple bogey eight on the 405m 15th which runs alongside Tomahawk Beach where the wind on the Chisholm Park links was the strongest.

James and McNair were six over after four holes, and recovered with birdies on 8, 9 and 10. By contrast Geary and Wright had one birdie and no real disasters.

The rain delay, which was accompanied by a temperature drop, saw 20 groups either not continue when play resumed or not return a card. The six players from the Australian team and the four Canadians were among the casualties, yet the duos from Malaysia and New Caledonia battled their way around for 81 and 83 respectively. The champs continue today with the first of the four qualifying rounds.

- NZPA