Sold out ladies golf event boosts Whangamatā

The day's winners from left: Karen McDonald- Stableford. Sue Milne-Nett, Julie Gee-Gross.

A sold-out women’s golf event in the Coromandel shows the region’s popularity within the leisure and resort golf market writes Shaun Fay

The Whangamata Ladies Golf Masters is an annual event, a major fundraiser for the club and a welcome financial boost for the town heading into summer.

The field sells out within hours of opening, with many women from all over the North Island loving the course and the town.

After a frustrating three years, it was terrific to see the golfers back in town. The weather held for the weekend and the women played some great golf and had a couple of fun nights.

As always, it’s not all about winning, the prizes are spread over all divisions both in age and the different comps like Gross, Stableford, and Nett.

It’s a tough three days for these golfers and the competition is fierce. For many the three days on the same course wears them down. Whangamatā’s best result was Jill Agnew coming in at seventh in gross.

Full and final results are available at the club.

The Men’s Masters isn’t far away - November 17-19. And again, that will be a full field.

The final year’s tournament is the Paradise Coast Golf Classic, December 1 to 3 across Pauanui’s Lakes Resort, Tairua GC and Whangamatā. Entries are still open at www.whangamata.org.nz. A double pass was drawn at the Ladies Masters and Collen and Ngaire are locked in and ready to rumble on the three-course tournament.

Golf is becoming a major financial drawcard for the Coromandel.

Many golfers are retired and enjoy playing other courses. With the right support and organisation, golf can grow to become a valuable addition to our tourism dollars. Stay and Play destinations around the world are testimony to that.

Here’s hoping the peninsula’s clubs can work more closely together in the future and create what would be some world-class golf adventures.

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