Latest News

McCallum on Golf

• Taranaki’s more senior male golfers who are seeking representative selection can look forward to a busy schedule over the next two months. Play for the masters (over 40) begins with a 36 hole trial at New Plymouth on Sunday 22nd August, followed by the Spicers Taranaki Masters championship at Westown and Manukorihi on the 4th and 5th September, with the final trial being the 36 hole Egmont championships at Stratford on Sunday 12th September. The best four of six gross round scores will be counted with the top four players gaining automatic selection into the five man team to compete at the national masters interprovincial tournament to be played at the Otatara Golf Club in Invercargill from 8th-12th November. The final team spot will be the discretion of selector Karl Stratton. Players wishing to be considered for selection should register their interest with Taranaki Golf
  
  
• 4New Plymouth golfer Brad Hayward (74-70-74-69-287) had the best finish of the Taranaki players competing in the Waikato Winter Strokeplay championships at the Lochiel Golf Club last weekend. Hayward finished 10th in the 72 hole event which was won by New Zealand strokeplay champion, Brad Kendall (69-72-70-69-280) with an eight under par total, one shot clear of Nick Gillespie (69-71-64-77-281) and Tane Robson (68-69-71-73-281). Other Taranaki scores were: Doug Moores (77-72-73-71-293), Sanjay Modgill (77-70-74-75-296) and Steven Heyes (76-75-75-75-301).
  
  
• Westown professional Craig Owen (70-68-77-215) surrendered a two stroke lead going into the final round of the A$25,000 Queensland Senior championship last week to finish in a tie for fifth position. The three round event which was played at the Nudgee Golf Club, was won by Aussie professional Rodger Davis (70-70-70-210) with a three under par total. Other Kiwi scores and positions were: Stuart Reese (72-70-73-215-5th equal), Jim Lapsley (73-71-75-219-13th equal), Martin Webber (71-74-75-220-18th equal).
  Owen finished well off the pace in the A$15,000 Lifestyle Asset Management Surfers Paradise Legends Pro-Am on Monday when he fired a seven over par round of 79. The 18 hole event was won by Greg Carroll who fired a five under par round of 67 while Jim Lapsley (70) was the best of the Kiwi professionals, finishing third equal.
  
  
• 52 players participated in the latest Taranaki Veterans event at Eltham. The men’s monthly button was won by Gus McCutcheon (Westown) with 42 stableford points and Tui Steele (Manaia) won the women’s button with 40 points. Other leading scores were: Senior: Gerard Keegan 41, Trevor Jones 39, Alan McKay 37; Intermediate: Peter Fake 40, Des Beaven 40, Pat Carr 38; Junior: Matthew Seifert 39. Dave Watt 38; Women: Anne Braithwaite 40, Lorna Le Fleming 37
  
  

McCallum on Golf

• A field of 61 golfers participated in the Carey Shield at Patea on Sunday. The 36 hole men’s title was shared by Brad Hayward (70- 73-143) and Jaron Otene (72-71-143) with a three under par total for the 36 hole event. Manukorihi’s Melissa Hill (73-84-157) took out the women’s title after a strong opening round while Svala Garner (83-78-161) and Debbie McCallum (83-78-161) tied for second. Patea members dominated the nett competition with Aaron Hughes recording the best 36 hole nett with a score of 131, off a seven handicap while club mate Nathan Cameron had a nett score of 134 off a 10 handicap. The Patea number two team (Nathan Cameron, Casey Whanau, Greg Huston, and Ray Finlay were the winners of the Carey Shield with a team score of 558 – 26 under par. The New Plymouth team (Brad Hayward. Tim Papuni, Kane Papuni and Zachary Marino) won the best gross with a score of 602- 14 over par.
  
  
• 48 junior golfers competed in the annual Taranaki Eagles golf tournament at the Inglewood Golf Club last Friday. Westown’s Jay Maaka recorded the best gross score with a two under par round of 66 while Fletcher Broderick (73-12-61) had the best boys nett score. Inglewood ’s Shantelle Bromell (96-31-65) recorded the best girls nett score. Other leading scores were: Boys- Ryan Lampitt (84-22-62), Kyle Joseph (73-9-64), Zachary Marino (71-7- 64); Girls- Holly Winter (83-11-72), Celeste McLean (82-9-73). The three juniors selected to represent Taranaki at the national Eagles championship at the Poverty Bay Golf Club in September are: Jay Maaka (Westown), Brooke Gray (Tumahu) and Shantelle Bromell (Inglewood).
  
  
• A team of 20 young golfers from the Taranaki Junior Golfing Society made a clean sweep in their annual clash against Waikato and Bay of Plenty recently . Playing at the Matamata Golf Club , the group of 16 boys and 4 girls ranging in age from 12 to 21 years recorded team wins (based on nett average ) against both districts. Top scores were Girls: Shantelle Bromell (105-38-67), Holly Winter (84-15-69); Boys : Cameron Hucker ( 8015-65)), Corban Hill ( 81-15-66), Kyle Joseph (77-10-67); Fletcher Brodrick (82-14-68).
  
  
• Westown professional Craig Owen has made a strong start to his current campaign on the Queensland Legends golf tour. Owen fired a 70 to finish in a tie for second with fellow Kiwi professional Martin Webber and Aussie Gary Merrick in the A$10,000 Amalgamated Pest Control Carbrook Legends Pro-am. The 18 hole event was won by Rodger Davis wh fired a 67 for the opening event. The Legends now move onto the A$25,000 Queensland Senior championship, a three round event at the Nudgee Golf Club.
  
  

McCallum on Golf

• Taranaki’s top golfers tee it up in Patea on Sunday when they compete in the Carey Shield. The 36 hole event was rained out in May and has been rescheduled for this weekend. Leading the men’s field are the three leading Order of Merit players Brad Hayward (556 points), Aarun Langton (515) and Tim White (415). Hayward and Langton shared the title last year and are hot favourites to run the quinella again this year. Te Ngutu’s Debbie McCallum, Chris Wilson (Inglewood) and local member Kathy Faiers are likely to be in the mix for the womens title, while 11 teams will compete for the club teams title.
  
  
• New Plymouth junior Sanjay Modgill enjoyed a purple patch during his opening round of the North Taranaki Age Group championship last week. The 15 year old was six over par after 12 holes before a four blitz saw him pick up five shots with an eagle two on the 286 metre par four 13th, a birdie three on the 379 metre par four 14th, a par on the 132 metre par three 15th and then another eagle two on the 316 metre par four 16th hole. His five under par stretch got his round back on track for an opening score of one over par 69, a score he matched in the afternoon round to take out the North Taranaki Under 19 title.
  
  
• Urenui golfer Valerie MacDonald has featured in the New Zealand Golf Women’s Home Links competition. McDonald (94-36-58) won the Veterans Cup, for players over 70 years of age, for her score of 12 under the New Zealand Course Rating (NZCR), a score which also saw her finish second in the Aotearoa Cup, a competition open to all silver and bronze division players throughout the country.
  
  
• Taranaki representative team mates Brad Hayward and Murray Martin contested the New Plymouth Golf Club senior men’s matchplay competition last Saturday. The 20 year Hayward led 3 up after an opening par round before Martin staged a comeback to get back to one down with two to play. However the veteran missed a one metre putt on the penultimate hole to lose the 36 hole final 2/1. In other divisions, Paul Haskell beat Paul Brown to claim the intermediate division while Warwick Shearer defeated Grant Crossan 5/3 to claim the junior title. The 18 hole limit final went to Graeme Milne who beat John Fairey 5/4 in the 18 hole final.
  
  
• 75 players participated in the Stumble Inn Café & Bar mid winter open tournament at Westown on Sunday. Leading scores were:Senior men: Gross- Dean Baldock [Westown] – 77, Nett – Max Maaka [Westown] – 67,Stableford – Tony Dowd [Westown] 38; Intermediate-Gross – Ata Nui [Fitzroy] – 80, Nett-Clive McGlashan [Westown] – 67, Stableford– Merv Dew [Inglewood] – 39; Junior- Gross-– Steve Fry [Westown] – 89, Nett - Lex Wiegerinck [Westown] – 69, Stableford – Paddy Keegan [Westown] – 39; Ladies-Gross – Marie Gray [New Plymouth] – 100, Nett- Judith Maaka [Westown] – 65, Stableford– Cheryl Simpson [Westown] - 39
  
  
• Taranaki representative golf coach John Garner, notched up his eigth hole in one recently. Garner used a six iron to ace the 143 metre par three sixth hole at Urenui. Waitara’s Peter ‘Horsey’ Wallace also achieved a hole in one on his home course when he holed out on the 125 metre par three 8th hole.
  
  

10/07/10

• North Harbour professional Michael Hendry may be excused if he doesn’t defend his Port Taranaki Open title in late September. The 30 year old, who won the NZPGA Order of Merit title last year, hit the big time with an empathic victory in the Indonesian Open last weekend. Hendry shot a blistering final seven under par round of 65 to win by seven shots and scoop a tidy US$180,000. The 30 year old Hendry has won three of the last four Charles tour events in New Zealand and most recently the Fijian Open. Like other Taranaki Open winners Hendry now looks set to ply his trade on a more lucrative tour. 2006 Taranaki Open winner Mark Brown is currently playing on the European Tour where he is currently 117th on the European Order of Merit, having made nine cuts in 18 events for earnings of just over Euro100,000. Meanwhile 2007 winner Brad Iles has been making his mark on the second tier nationwide US tour where he is currently in 51st position having played 13 events this season for five cuts and earnings of US$46,000. Hendry is likely to focus on the burgeoning One Asia tour which will host 11 tournaments this year with a total of more than US$12 million in prize money up for grabs.
  
  
• Auckland junior golfer Tae Koh got his Taranaki visit off to a perfect start on Tuesday. The 15 year old who plays on a three handicap at the Manukau Golf Club scored a hole in one on the 272 metre par four 11th hole at Fitzroy during a practice round. The Auckland junior development squad member used a driver to score the rare albatross on a par four.
  
• A field of 74 golfers competed in the Fitzroy winter open tournament on Sunday. University student Jamie Reid recorded the best gross score with a one under par 67, a round that included an eagle two on the 317 metre par four second hole. Other leading scores were: Senior men: Nett- Karl Diamond (72-9-63), Stableford- Nev Rowlands 39; Intermediate- Gross- Kasey Ross76, Nett- Ian Horner (80-16-64), Stableford- Jeff Klenner 38; Junior- Gross- James Rowland 83, Nett- Richard Ransfield (85-20-65), Stableford- Steven Walters 39; Women –Stableford- Kate Shelver and Marie Gray.
  
  
• The final round of the Taranaki Veterans mens pennant competition was played in atrocious conditions at the New Plymouth Golf Club last week. The six round matchplay competition was taken out by Manukorihi with Kaitake finishing runner-up. The net competition which was run in conjunction with the matchplay event was won by Urenui (total nett 2107) with Westown (2124) second and Inglewood number one (2147) third. The best individual nett score recorded on the final day was Pat Carr with a nett 67.
  
  

30/06/10

• The field for the North Taranaki Age Group championships to be played at the Fitzroy Golf Club next Wednesday has been boosted by the inclusion of an Auckland development squad. The 12 strong under 19 squad comprising eight boys and four girls will compete in the Reid Plumbing sponsored 36 hole event as a prelude to a 36 hole matchplay fixture against a Taranaki junior development squad at New Plymouth Golf Club next Thursday. Leading the way for Auckland is one handicapper Ben Turner and the trio of Cody Wheeler, Campbell Rainford and Tae Koh who all play off four handicaps while the four strong girls side will be led by Wenyung Keh and Celyn Khoo who play off a four and five handicap respectively. The leading Taranaki players in the age group championship include Jay Maaka (Westown), Sanjay Modgill and Kane Papuni (New Plymouth) and the Tumahu duo of Brook Gray and Joseph Doyle while Manaia clubmates Celeste McLean and Holy Winter are the leading Taranaki girls in the field.
  The Taranaki junior development team to play Auckland is, in playing order: Boys- Jay Maaka, Joseph Doyle, Peter Joseph, Kane Papuni, Brook Gray, Peter Joseph, Hayden Chamberlain, Zac Marino and Sam Jones; Girls- Celeste McLean, Holly Winter, Claudia Munro and Chantelle Bromell
  
  
• Westown professional Craig Owen literally took a free drop recently. Playing in the Fijian Owen (74-82-80) was placed in 12th position going into the last round. After eight holes in the final round he was two over par when he went to look for the ball of one of his playing partners. Unfortunately Owen ventured over a grass covered open culvert and would have encountered a five metre drop had a pipe not stopped his fall. Owen was unable to continue and was taken to hospital suffering bad bruising and requiring several stitches. He has since returned home and hopes to be back to full fitness for a crack at a series of seniors events in Queensland in late July. The Fijian $60,000 event which was played on the Vijay Singh designed Natandola Golf Resort was won by the in form Michael Hendry (75-69-71-80-295).
  
• A field of 48 men and 13 women competed in the Waimate Plains championship at Manaia on Sunday. The men’s title was won by Inglewood member, Kerry Otene (69-68-137) who was five under for the 36 hole event and three shots clear of host club member Neil Bryant (69-71-140), with a further shot back to another Manaia player, Caleb Symes (68-73-141). The women’s title went to Urenui’s Svala Garner (77-78-155) who edged out Eleanor Hodson (77-78-155) on a countback, with a further shot back to Melissa Hill (77-79-156). The leading nett scores were; Men- Neil Bryant (4 handicap) 132; Stephen Hawkes (18) 133; Caleb Andreoli (4) 134; Women-Holly Winter 913) 135, Melissa Hill (8) 140, Melanie Wilson (11) 141
  
• The Westown Golf Club are holding their 75th jubilee celebrations over the weekend of August 13th-15th this year. The celebrations will include two golf tournaments and a jubilee dinner with Graham Mourie as guest speaker.Registration forms are available from the club, with registrations closing on the 31st July.
  
  

McCallum on Golf

• Taranaki’s leading male golfers have two further opportunities to stake their claim for representative honours with the first being the 36 hole Waimate Plains championship at Manaia on Sunday. The Taranaki tour event was washed out last month and those competing this weekend are likely to face heavy winter conditions. The second event, which has also been rescheduled due to inclement weather, is the Carey Shield which will be played at Patea on Sunday 18th July. Following these events, selector Karl Stratton will name a squad of 12 players to compete in two further 36 hole trials (New Plymouth on 22nd August and the Egmont Championships at Stratford on 12th September) from which he will select teams to compete in three quadrangular events in October.


• Westown are the 2010 women’s mid week pennant champions. In the 18 hole final at Manaia on Monday the city side proved too strong for Pungarehu with a 4-2 winning margin. In the play-off for third and fourth, Waverley enjoyed a convincing 5-1 victory over Kaitake.


• A small field of juniors faced wet conditions when they competed in the first 18 hole event for the Taranaki Junior Golf Society at Inglewood on Sunday. The B. J. Thompson Memorial Trophy for the best two ball best ball nett was shared by Shantelle Bromwell (Inglewood) and Ethan Jones (Manaia) and Vanessa Bouvet (New Plymouth) and Cameron Hucker (Inglewood) with both pairings returning net 57s. The 18 hole event was also the first trial for the 2010 Booth Shield team with the leading scores being: Boys- Jay Maaka (69-3-66), Stephen Butchart (93-25-68), Dirk Van Dyk (80-11-69); Girls –Vanessa Bouvet (79-12-67), Melanie Wilson (81-10-71), Shantelle Bromell (105-34-71).


• 16 pairs participated in the Srixon Pairs qualifying tournament at the Waverley Golf Club. The pairing of John Karatau and Dave Conybeer returned a best ball stableford score of 48 points to head off Jacqui Hooper and Kerry Rees on 46, with Brent McAree and Warren Pope taking third on 45 points on countback from N Alexander and G Hodges.


• The recent wet weather has played havoc with the Taranaki Veterans monthly tournament. After two successive postponements of the event due to be played at the Westown Golf Club on the 14th and 21st June, organisers have cancelled the June tournament with the next event scheduled to be held at the Eltham Golf Club on Monday July 12th.


• Local members Graham Yaxley and Carol Kersten (92-86-178) combined to take out the South Taranaki mixed foursomes at the Hawera Golf Club recently. The mother and son combination of Leila and Steven Batchelor took out the best nett with a 36 hole total of 146.

03/06/10

• Congratulations to the Inglewood Golf Club who won the 2010 men’s handicap pennant title on Sunday when they defeated Pungarehu 5-4. The mighty maroons got off to a flying start in very windy conditions at the Fitzroy Golf Club, taking out the morning foursome 2 ½ - ½ . Despite a gallant comeback in the afternoon singles, which Pungarehu took out 3 ½ - 2 ½, the damage had already been done and Inglewood held on to top the 27 teams who entered the 2010 competition.
  
  
• The Taranaki women’s weekend pennant title went to the wire at the Inglewood on Sunday. After completion of the nine round competition, Patea and Westown were tied on 13 points and a sudden death play-off was required to determine the 2010 champions. Number one players Kathy Faiers (Patea) and Karen Pattison (Westown) both had anxious moments on the first play-off before Pattison held her nerve to slot a 10 foot putt and claim the title for Westown.
  
  
• Murray Martin (70-70-69-72-281) romped away with the 2010 New Plymouth senior strokeplay championship. Martin’s seven under par total was a massive 24 shots ahead of Mark Kennard (78-78-74-75). The intermediate title went to Paul Haskell (80-80-77-77-314) with Matt Coleman (78-84-78-87-328) in second place while the junior title went to NPBHS student Dirk Van Dijk (80-86-87-86-339) with Grant Crossan (95-85-81-88-349) runner-up. The limit title was won by Graeme Milne (94-93-101-96-384) with Mike Bell (102-104-105-98-409) in second place.
  
  
• NPBHS student Damien Powell (76-72-148) is the 2010 Westown senior men’s strokeplay champion. With the third round abandoned due to rain, Powell edged out Tony Hardy (78-71-149) by one shot. The Intermediate ‘A’ title went to Roy Grant (79-79-158) from Bill Okey (82-82-164) while the Intermediate ‘B’ title went to Jeff Mason (90-78-168) from Geoff Richardson (86-82-168). In the junior division, Andrew Stilton (84-90-174) headed off Colin Shotter (87-89-176) while Nigel Dwyer (90-96-186) took out the limit title from Kevin Conlin (105-100-205)
  
• 22 pairs competed in the Srixon Pairs two ball best ball stableford tournament at New Plymouth on Sunday. A countback was needed to determine the two teams to qualify for the regional finals, after three teams were tied on 42 points. The two teams to progress were both family pairings with Inglewood brothers Aaron and Dion Burgess coming out on top from the grandfather and grandson combination of Ravi and Sanjay Modgill. The unlucky pair to miss out was Lyn Melody and Pene Trousselot from New Plymouth.
• New Plymouth golfer Mark Kennard scored an ALBATROSS on Saturday when he used a seven iron to hole his second shot on the 424 metre par three seventh hole at his home course - a rare three under par two on a par five hole.
  

30/05/10

• A field of 140 players participated in the annual Taranaki 5000 golf tournament at Stratford on Sunday. The McCallum & Dallas sponsored event is Taranaki Golf’s largest club tournament and raised around $6000 for the local association. The leading club side was Inglewood with a combined stableford score of 192 for the best five players with Westown second on 188. The best men’s nett score went to Strathmore’s Brian Needham (82-16-66) while Inglewood’s Sharon Joseph (101-28-73) had the best nett score in the women’s division. Taranaki representative Aarun Langton had the best gross score with an even par round of 71 and Inglewood member Steve Kennedy took out the best stableford with 41 points. Other leading scores: Senior: Net-Jim Brand (79-11-68), Bernie Keegan (79-10-69); Stableford- Wayne Beggs 38, Glen Corbett 38; Intermediate – Snoz Hamilton (81-13-68), Grant Crossan (83-14-69); Stableford- Steve Bruce 40, Shane Lark 38; Junior- Nett-Wayne Hart (87-20-67), John Smith (89-21-68);Stableford- Don Burgess 40, Henry Morton 38
  
  
• Inglewood and Pungarehu will vie for the 2010 Taranaki men’s handicap pennant title at Fitzroy n Sunday. Inglewood headed off Kaitake 5 ½ - 3 ½ in last week’s semifinals while Pungarehu continued their impressive form with a 5-4 win over neighbours Kaitake. The Coastal minnows may just have enough momentum to make it a club double after the Pungrehu ladies team took out the Taranaki title for the national women’s clubs teams event earlier this month.
  
  
• The Patea Golf Club hosts the Carey Shield on Saturday. The 36 hole tournament features both individual and teams prizes and is part of the Taranaki Golf Tour. Around 70 players have entered the event to date with the leading trio of Aarun Langton, Brad Hayward and Murray Martin likely to dominate the men’s section although local player Darcy Faiers could upset o his home track. The women’s division is wide open with Chris Wilson (Inglewood) and Kathy Faiers (Patea) two of the favoured entries received to date.
  
  
• Port Taranaki Open champion Michael Hendry picked up the biggest cheque of his career when he finished 5th in One Asia’s SK Telecom Open in Korea last weekend. Hendry, who won the Muriwai Open the preceding week fired a 12 under par total for the four round event to pick up almost US $30,000. The event was won by 23 year old Korean Bae Sang-moon who shot a 22 under par total.
  
• The final round of the Taranaki weekend women’s pennants will be played at Inglewood on Sunday and this years title will go down to the wire. After eight rounds, three teams, Kaitake, Patea and Westown, share the lead with 11 points followed closely by Inglewood on 10 and New Plymouth on 9. If a tie remains after the final round. The winner will be decided by a sudden death play-off.
  

20/05/10

• Taranaki golfers were to the forefront of last week’s Muriwai Open with all six players competing making the 36 hole cut for the top 60 players. New Plymouth professional Grant Moorhead (71-69-68-70-278) notched up another top five placing finishing in fifth equal position. 18 year old Steven Heyes (67-68-73-75-283) found himself as joint leader after two rounds and although he faded over the last two rounds, his five under par total was an excellent performance and saw him finish tied for 16th overall and sixth equal leading amateur. Other Taranaki scores and placings were: Doug Moores (69-71-69-76-285-25th=), Brad Hayward (71-72-74-72-283-35th=), Craig Owen (71-72-72-76-291-39=), Sanjay Modgill (75-72-74-75-296-54th=).
  
  
• The semi-finals of the Taranaki Men’s Handicap Pennant competition will be played at the Waitara Golf Club on Saturday. Both semi-finals should be close encounters with Westown picked to edge out Inglewood and the in-form Pungarehu to prevail over Kaitake. The final will be played at Fitzroy on Sunday 30th May.
  
  
• Around 50 women have entered the Taranaki Women’s Strokeplay championships to be played at the Te Ngutu Golf Club next Wednesday. The silver championship is played over 36 holes while the Bronze championship will be played over 18 holes. All entrants go into a lucky draw for a stay and play golf package.
  
  
• The Pungarehu team of Sue Crowley, Robin Barrett, Lyn Hamill and Chris Morgan took out the Taranaki final of the New Zealand Women’s National Teams competition at Westown last week. The four strong team shot a four ball best ball nett score of 129 to head off the New Plymouth team (Lyn Melody, Pene Trousselot, Barbara Gregory and Chris Kenning) by four shots , with a further shot back to Patea who edged out Westown on a countback.
  
• A field of 69 players participated in the latest Taranaki Veterans event at Manaia last week. Te Ngutu players dominated the major trophies with Trevor Jones taking out the J.R. Brimblecombe Cup with 43 points on a countback and Paul Owen taking out the monthly button, also with 43 points. Other leading scores were: Senior men: Rodney Ward 42, Alan MacKay 42, Lloyd Phillips 40; Intermediate: Warren Hooper 40, Kevin Myles 39, Bill Scott 39; Junior: Trevor Hughes 43, Keith Elliott 39, Rob Logie 38; Ladies – Tui Steele 39, Miro Elliott 36, Sue Summerfield 36
  
• New Plymouth golfer Jimmy Deuart scored his fifth hole in one when he played a nine iron to record the perfect shot at the 116 metre par three 14th hole on his home course on Saturday.
  
• Last Sunday’s Waimate Plains was a wash-out with play being abandoned early in the first round. Organisers are hoping to play the Taranaki Tour event late in June
  

 

13/05/10

• New Plymouth professional Grant Moorhead heads a strong contingent of Taranaki golfers teeing it up in the first round of the $40,000 Rapid Labels Murawai Open today. Moorhead has been ‘Mr Consistent’ this year and has worked his way into third place on the NZPGA Order of Merit with 9392 points year to date. Only Andrew Searle (10,563) and Taranaki Open champion, Michael Hendry (12,857) are currently ahead of him. The 40 year old finished 7th in the first Charles Tour event for 2010, the Carrus Tauranga Open and will be looking for another strong performance in the 72 hole Murawai event which finishes on Sunday. Moorhead will be joined by fellow Taranaki professionals Craig Owen and Dominic Barson plus leading amateurs Steven Heyes, Brad Hayward, Doug Moores and Sanjay Modgill.
  
  
• A field of around 50 glfers have entered the Waimate Plains Championship to be played at Manaia Golf Club on Sunday. The 36 hole tournament is the fifth event of the 2010 Taranaki Golf Tour. The leading contenders for the men’s title are Murray Martin (New Plymouth), Tim White (Hawera) and the Westown duo of James Malone and Jay Maaka while local hopes Neil Bryant and Caleb Andreoli could upset on their home track.
  In the women’s division, Debbie McCallum (Te Ngutu) and Svala Garner (Urenui) will start as favourites with local hopes resting with the teenage duo of Celeste McLean and Holly Winter
  
  
• The results of the Taranaki Handicap Pennants competition went according to the form book last week with Inglewood (North) too strong for Te Ngutu One (6 ½ - 2 ½ ), while Westown One beat Inglewood (Taranaki Wide) 6-3. In the other matches Kaitake One edged out Waverley after a sudden death play-off while Pungarehu were convincing winners over Kaitake Two (7 ½ - 1 ½).
  
  
• Westown professional Craig Owen had two mediocre performances in Australasian Legends PGA events in South Australia recently. Owen (75-75-150) finished tied for 13th in the A$20,000 Ocean Eyre Whyalle Legends Pro-Am which was won by Australian John Clifford (71-69-140). Owen (73-71-144) then shot an even par total to finish in a tie for 14th in the $25,000 Bendigo Bank PGA SA Seniors Championship, which was also won by Clifford (71-67-138). Fellow Kiwi professional Jim Lapsley (72-70-142) finished seventh equal.
  
• Te Ngutu golfer Marion Wood scored her first hole in one last week when she used a three wood to hole out on the 151 metre par three 16th hole at her home course.

06/05/10

• It’s show time in the Taranaki men’s handicap pennant competition. With the completion of section play last Sunday the competition moves to the sudden death stage with quarterfinal matches to be played at the New Plymouth Golf Club on Sunday. Inglewood and Kaitake have both had two teams qualify for the final eight while Pungarehu (Taranaki section) and Westown One (North Two section) join the southern qualifiers, Te Ngutu One and Waverley.
  In the quarterfinals match-ups, Inglewood One should be too strong for Te Ngutu One, while Westown One should prevail over Inglewood Two. In the other matches Kaitake One are favoured to beat Waverley while the in form Pungarehu, who beat Opunake 7-2 last week should beat Kaitake Two, who were thumped 8-1 in their final section play match.
  
  
• With a win in the South Taranaki strokeplay championship, Opunake’s Aarun Langton (515 points) has closed the gap on Taranaki Tour Order of Merit leader Brad Hayward (556). Murray Martin (403) has moved into third while Doug Moores (373) and Tim White (365) round out the top five.
  Taranaki women’s representative selector Eleanor Hodson (525) leads the women’s Order of Merit from Svala Garner (475), with Debbie McCallum and Nicole Keegan (both 350) tied for third.
  Westown’s Allan Stewart (571) leads the Nett Order of Merit, from Bryan Martelletti (485) and Richard Barlow (344). The next Taranaki Tour event is the Waimate Plains championship at Manaia on Sunday 16th May.
  
  
• Urenui golfers Duncan Elliott and Erich Jahnke have both returned exceptional scores over the last month. Elliott recorded a one over par round of 68 at the Waitara monthly tournament for a tidy net 58 while Jahnke shot his best ever score of one under par 69 on his home course for a nett 59 in a local sponsored tournament.
  
  
• New Plymouth professional Grant Moorhead (68-65-68-71-272) was the best performed Taranaki golfer at last week’s Carrus Tauranga Open. Moorhead finished tied for seventh overall and 5th in the professional field. New Plymouth amateur, Brad Hayward (74-66-71-68-279) finished 31st while Dominic Barson (70-66-73-73-282) and Joon Ho Choi (70-68-75-69-282) finished in a tie for 40th.
  
• The Taranaki ladies pennant competition is starting to heat up. With only two rounds of section play remaining, Patea and Pungarehu lead section one with six points while Westown are the outright leaders of section two with eight points, with Manukorihi, Waverley, Opunake and Hawera all on six points. The next round of matches is on the 17th May.
  
• Fourteen clubs will compete in the New Zealand Golf national women’s club team championship at Westown next Wednesday. The teams comprise of four players who all qualified for the event from individual club events. Patea won the Taranaki title last year,

28/04/10

• It’s crunch time in the Taranaki men’s handicap pennant competition. After the completion of this weekend’s games the 27 strong team competition will be whittled down to the top eight. In the Taranaki wide section the final round of games could not have been scripted better with the top four teams going head to head at Tumahu. The winner of the Pungarehu and Opunake clash will qualify while Manukorihi Two could sneak under the radar and claim the second qualifying spot if they can upset Inglewood. In the North One Division matches at Westown, the winner of the Kaitake One versus Manukorihi One match will progress while the other team likely to qualify will be the winner of the Inglewood and Westown Two match. In the North Two division , frontrunners Kaitake Two and Westown One go head to head but both look set to qualify regardless of the result. In the South Division at Hawera , Te Ngutu One have already qualified while Waverley will progress if they can beat Manaia.
  
• Opunake’s Aarun Langton (73-67-140) red hot form saw him take out the Harcourts sponsored South Taranaki 36 hole strokeplay championship at Hawera on Saturday. The coastal golfer, who smashed his own home course record the previous weekend fired a four under total for the 36 holes to finish four shots clear of Murray Martin (76-68-144) with a further shot back to Hawera’s Tim White (74-71-145).
  The women’s title went to Westown’s Rochelle Keegan (78-74-152) who finished six shots clear of Debbie McCallum (81-77-158).Other leading scores:
  Gross: Jay Maaka-76-70-146; James Malone 73-73-146; Brian Martelletti (76-71-147); Tim Papunui 75-72-148; Brad Hayward 73-76-149, Tyla Otene 74-75-149; Kane Papuni 74-76-150
  Division One Nett: Jamie Johnston 134, Dean Hikaka 137
  Division Two Gross: Steven Jones 162; Nett-Peter White 137, Graham Williams 139
  Women’s Nett- Vanessa Bouvet 145, Chris Wilson 145
  
  
• New Plymouth golfer Pat Wilcox found the perfect new golf club last weekend . The 29 handicapper was trialling a new driver and scored her first hole in one when she holed out on the 146 metre par three 12th hole on her home course.
  
• 63 mixed couples including 40 couples from outside the province competed in the Taranaki Veterans four day,four course tournament held at Westown (Foursomes), Fitzroy (Two Ball Ambrose), Inglewood (Canadian Foursomes) and Kaitake (Scottish Foursomes) last week.Major winners were:
  Division One; Garry and Sandra Payne (Waihi); Paddy and Susan Edmonds (Castlecliff)
  Division Two: Alban and Julie Reid (Kaitake); Trevor Welsh (Manukorihi) and Janice Jupp (Kaitake)
  Division Three: Peter and Chrissie McClintock (Whangaparoa); Rodney and Anne Ward (Westown)

23/04/10

• Taranaki’s top golfers tee it up at Hawera on Saturday in the 36 hole South Taranaki Strokeplay championship. The Harcourts sponsored event, which is the fourth event of the Taranaki Golf Tour has attracted a field of around 60 players. Favourites for the men’s championship include the Brad Hayward and Murray Martin (New Plymouth), Aarun Langton (Opunake) and local champion Tim White while Debbie McCallum will looking to back up her last start win at Te Ngutu in the women’s division.
  
• The Taranaki junior boys development team finished third at last weeks quadrangular tournament played at the Marton Golf Club. The 10 strong team lost the opening round to the event winner Manawatu-Wanganui (7 ½ - 2 ½ ), beat Wellington (7-3) in the second round before going down to Wairarapa 6 ½ - 4 ½ in the final round. Kane Papuni and Hayden Chamberlain both recorded two wins for the Taranaki team.
  In the 54 hole girls strokeplay competition, Celeste McLean (87-84-171) finished 2nd in the gross competition while clubmate Holly Winter (91-83-174) finished fourth.
  
  
• New Plymouth golfer Steven Heyes (74-70-74-71-289) was the only Taranaki player to make the 36 hole cut at the New Zealand amateur championships in Hastings last week. The 18 year old finished in a tie for 13th place in the 72 hole strokeplay championship but was beaten in the first round of the matchplay by Blair Riordan, Other Taranaki scores were: Murray Martin 80-72-152; Brad Hayward 78-74-152; Tim White 76-78-154; Doug Moores 75-80-155; Sanjay Modgill 84-72-156.
  
• Taranaki representative Aarun Langton was in hot form last Sunday. The Opunake golfer sizzled around his home course with a bogey free round of eight under par 63 to break his own course record by a shot. Langton, who is a hot shot for the Harcourts South Taranaki championship on Saturday, recorded four birdies on both the front nine (1,3,5 and 7) and back nine (10,13,14 and 16).
   
• The play-off contenders for the Taranaki men’s handicap pennant competition became a little clearer after the latest round of matches on Sunday. In the North division one , Kaitake One edged out Fitzroy Two to take a one point lead over Manukorihi One and Westown Two going into the last round while Kaitake Two and Westown One are odds on to progress from North Division Two. In the South Division, Te Ngutu One are through to the final eight after a 5-4 win over Manaia, while Waverley are in the prime position to gain the second qualifying spot. The Taranaki wide division remains a log jam with three teams –Opunake, Pungarehu and Inglewood locked up on nine points. The final round of section play will be played on Sunday 2nd May.
   
• A field of 47 players participated in the Telford Retirement Village sponsored Taranaki Womens Veterans tournament at Inglewood last week. Leading scores were: Silver: Nett-Maureen Stannard (Te Ngutu) 81-13-68; Stableford- Moyra Grey (Kaitake) 37; Bronze One: Nett- Delys Suter(Inglewood) 91-25-66; Stableford- Lynette Harrison (Stratford) 36; Bronze Two: Nett- Sue Dodunski (Inglewood) 101-30-71; Stableford- Mandy Aish (Stratford) 33

• New Plymouth golfers Brian Wray and Judith Jones both notched their first hole in ones, on their home course over the last week. Wray used a seven iron from the yellow markers to ace the 103 metre par three sixth hole while Jones used a three wood to hole out on the 138 metre par three ninth hole.

14/04/10

• The penultimate round of section play in the Taranaki Men’s Handicap Pennant competition will be played on Sunday. The lead in the Taranaki wide section has become a log jam after leaders Opunake and Pungarehu both took a tumble last week. The winner of the Opunake and Manukorihi One clash this week will be odds on to qualify for the play-offs. Manukorihi have the home course advantage and will be buoyed by their narrow win over Pungarehu last week. Meanwhile Pungarehu will need to bounce back against Manaia to retain their place at the top of section one
  The North One section is also very tight with the feature games this weekend being Fitzroy Two against Kaitake One and the local derby between Manukorihi Two and Waitara One.
  The North Two section have no play this week. Kaitake Two have already qualified for the post section play and barring a miracle will be joined by Westown One.
  In the South division matches at Te Ngutu, the winner of the Te Ngutu One versus Manaia clash is likely to progress to the final eight while Patea need to beat Te Ngutu Two to keep their hopes alive.
  
• A Taranaki junior boys development team will play against Wairarapa, Manawatu and Wanganui at the the Marton Golf Club today and tomorrow. The team (in playing order) is: Caleb Symes, Jay Maaka, Joesph Doyle, Kane Papuni, Zac Marino, Des Wilcox, Hayden Chamberlain, Sam Jones, Fletcher Broderick and Ben Joesph.
  A squad of five junior girls will compete in a strokeplay competition at the same venue. The squad is Celeste McLean, Holly Winter, Tyler Winter, Claudia Munro and Karin Burling.
  
• Westown golfer Dean Hikaka completed a hat-trick of hole in ones in the Taranaki men’s handicap pennant series on Sunday when he became the third person over the last three rounds to notch a hole in one. The seven handicapper used a nine iron to ace the 140 metre par three 15th hole.
  
• Up and coming junior golfers have achieved their first hole in ones over the past week. 13 year old Manaia junior Sam Jones scored his hole in one on his home course when he used a six iron to ace the 142 metre par three 13th hole, while 14 year old Pungarehu junior Logan Crowley also scored his first hole in one on his home course when he used a six iron to hole out on the 145 metre par three sixth hole.
   
• The eagle blitz from the US Masters brushed off on a couple of New Plymouth golfers on Saturday. Paul Fitzgibbons holed his second shot for an eagle two on the 312 metre par four 15th hole while Paul Brown holed his second shot on the 342 metre par for 16th hole for an eagle two.
   
• A field of 117 players enjoyed brilliant conditions for the Easter Friday tournament at Fitzroy recently. Leading scores were: Senior: Gross- Richard Barlow 70; Nett- Graham Moorhead 71-11-60; Stableford- Mike Earley 42; Intermediate: Gross- Kerry Simeon 74, Nett- John Niwa 71-11-60, Stableford- Chris Sole 41; Junior- Gross- R Fraser 78, Nett-Steve Koot 80-21-59, Stableford- John Hunter 41; Women-Stableford-Janice Verry 37. Maree Van Praagh 36
   

07/04/10

• The Taranaki Men’s Handicap Pennant competition tees off again this weekend with round five of section play. In the North one division frontrunners Manukorihi One face a stern challenge from Fitzroy Two, who have the home course advantage. The other key match in this section sees New Plymouth up against Westown Two. In the North two division, Kaitake Two will be looking to consolidate their lead when they meet Westown Three while Urenui should move up the table when they face winless Waitara Two.
  Pungarehu should be too strong for Manukorihi Two in the Taranaki wide competition at Stratford while Opunake face a must win clash with co-leaders Inglewood.
  The crunch game in the southern section at Stratford has Te Ngutu One up against Patea while defending champions Eltham must win against Hawera to keep their play-off hopes alive.
   
• Taranaki will be well represented at the New Zealand men’s amateur championship at the Bridge Pa Golf Club in Hastings next week. Taranaki Golf Development Manager Murray Martin is taking a quartet of players to participate in the prestigious event. Martin will participate in the event along with Brad Hayward, Steven Heyes and Doug Moores (New Plymouth) and Tim White (Hawera). New Plymouth junior Sanjay Modgill is currently first emergency for the event which has a capacity field of 144 players. The week long competition starts with the 36 hole foursomes championship on Tuesday and then the 72 hole strokeplay championship runs from Wednesday to Saturday. Only the top 72 players and ties will compete in the final 36 holes of the strokeplay The top 32 players then qualify for the matchplay championship.
   
• A field of 81 players participated in the TSB sponsored open tournament at Urenui on Saturday. In the senior men’s division John Clements (78-14-64) led the way with best nett while Peter Armstrong took out the best stableford with 40 points. The best nett in the intermediate division went to Andy Richardson (79-16-63) with Michael Heyes taking the stableford with 41 points. Davis McClutchie (98-32-66) recorded the best net in the junior section while Ivan Lamplough had the best stableford with 39 points. The best nett in the senior women’s division went to Barbera Rawlinson (85-20-65) with Anne Shaw the best stableford of 41 points. The junior division was won by Ngarawhaia visitor Tarraleigh Temoni (88-23-65) while Helen Loney took out the best stableford with 43 points.
   
• Veteran golfers in Taranaki have plenty of golf to look forward to over the next month. The Waitara Golf Club host their annual mixed tournament from the 12th to 16th April while the four course tournament at Westown, Fitzroy, Inglewood and Kaitake will be held the following week. The Manukorihi Golf Club then host another four day event from 26th to 30th April and for those still standing the Stratford Golf Club host another four day event the first week in May.
   
   

01/04/10

• The cream came to the top at the Taranaki Summer Strokeplay championships held at the Te Ngutu Golf Club last Sunday. The men’s title was shared by Brad Hayward (71-72-143) and Murray Martin (73-70-143) with both players recording one over par totals for the 36 hole event. First round leader Doug Moores (68-77-145) blew out in the fimal round to finish alone in third place.
  The women’s title went to local champion Debbie McCallum (73-76-149) who romped away to a nine shot victory over Rochelle Keegan (79-79-158) with sister Nicole (75-85-160) a further shot back in third place.
  The best overall nett score went to Richard Barlow (New Plymouth) who recorded rounds of 75 and 78 off a seven handicap for a total of 139.
  Other leading gross scores were: Tim White (71-75-146), Bryan Martelletti (77-71-148), Jay Maaka )75-73-148), James Malone (73-76-149), Tony Hardy (72-77-149), Tyla Otene (77-73-150).
   
• Westown professional Craig Owen has catapulted into third position on the Australasian Legends Order of Merit following his win in the Victorian Seniors Championship last week. Owen (A$16,416) trails Australians Rodger Davis (A$17,492) and Mike Harwood (A$23,294)
   
• Fitzroy golfer Keith Preston scored his first hole in one last Friday. Playing on the final night of the Hirepool Twilight Golf competition Preston used a nine iron to score the perfect shot on the 140 metre par three 12th hole.
   
• A hole in one by Troy Forsyth in the latest round of the Taranaki men’s handicap pennant competition helped him to a win over Manaia’s Adrian Hayward and a team win over Sandfords Manaia. The seven handicapper used a five iron to hole out on the 174 metre par three second hole at Inglewood.
   
• 77 golfers including six women participated in the latest Taranaki Veterans golf tournament at Waitara. Strong winds made for tough scoring conditions with John Gane (Westown) taking out the men’s monthly button with 40 stableford points while Kath Emmerson (Kaitake) took out the women’s button with 33 points. The Washer Armitage Tray was won by Don Sole (Inglewood) with a combined total of 79 points from the two counting rounds at Te Ngutu and Waitara. Other leading scores from Waitara were:
  Senior men: Eric Jahnke 38, Ron Klenner 35, Gerard Keegan 35; Intermediate- Trevor Welsh 39, Neville Rawlinson 38, Ray Frost 38; Junior- Robert Blyde 39. Kevin Conlin 39. Ian Death 37, Ern Sutton 37; Women- Barbara Rawlinson 32, Sue Summerfield 32.
   

24/03/10

• Around 50 golfers have entered the South Taranaki Summer Strokeplay championship to be played at Te Ngutu on Sunday. The 36 hole event is the third event of the 2010 Taranaki Tour with Order of Merit points up for grabs. Frontrunner in the men’s section is Brad Hayward (333 points) and he will be looking to consolidate his lead at this weekend’s tournament. The in form Murray Martin poses a threat to Hayward while others who could feature include Hawera’s Tim White and Jay Maaka (Westown) and Doug Moores (New Plymouth).
   
• The women’s title should be competitive this weekend with the return of the Keegan sisters, Rochelle and Nicole , plus Debbie McCallum who will be tough to beat on her home track.
   
• The Taranaki men’s handicap pennant competition goes into recess for two weeks after the completion of the fourth round of matches last Sunday. In the Taranaki wide section Hurlstones Inglewood and Rahotu Service Station Pungarehu consolidated their lead with wins over Tumahu and Heartland Insurance Patea respectively.
   
• Tudor Lodge Te Ngutu One stumbled against Waverley Hotel Waverley at Waverley but still lead the South Taranaki section while in the North One section Manukorihi accounted for New Plymouth to jump into a share of the lead with a game in hand. The next round of matches will be on Sunday 11th April.
   
• New Plymouth professional Grant Moorhead (73-68-69-210) continued his solid form this year with a sixth equal placing at the $100,000 Brian Perry Classic in Hamilton last week. The 54 hole event was won by Taupo based professional Andrew Searle (69-71-65-205) who fired a brilliant final round of seven under par at the St Andrews course to head off Taranaki Open champion Michael Hendry (68-67-72-207) by two shots. Westown professional Craig Owen (75-70-75-215) finished tied for 17th while Troy Ropiha (68-72-73-213) finished 14th equal and Dominic Barson (75-70-71-216) 22nd.
   
• Taranaki representative Doug Moores (69-74-70-70-283) notched up his first major 72 hole tournament title with a three shot victory in the Lawnmaster Classic last weekend. Moores five under total was three shots clear of Manawatu’s Stuart Smith (76-72-66-72-286) and Pieter Zwart (71-68-71-76-286) from Hawkes Bay. Other Tarnaki scores were: Scott MacLean (72-71-72-77-292); Brad Hayward (74-73-73-76-296); James Malone (69-78-79-73-299); Jamie Reid (74-76-78-72-300); Tim White (77-85-72-87-321)
    Hawera High School (112 points ) took out the final of the Taranaki Secondary Schools Twilight competition at Stratford last Wednesday with a one shot victory over Francis Douglas College. Jason Perrett was the star performer for Hawera with 44 points while the other individual scores were Nathan Cameron 33, Steven Hawkes 31 and Daniel White 35.

10/03/10

• The Taranaki men’s handicap pennant series moves into round three on Sunday. The Taranaki wide and Southern sections play at Patea. In the Taranaki wide section, the two unbeaten teams Hurlstones Inglewood and Pungarehu go head to head while the feature match of the southern section sees defending champions Eltham up against unbeaten Tudor Lodge Te Ngutu One.
  The Northern sections play at Kaitake with Fitzroy Two looking to retain their unbeaten record in section one when they meet New Plymouth while the match of the day in the second section has Westown Brown One up against Urenui.
   
• New Plymouth golfer Murray Martin (66-64-130) was ‘in the zone’ at last week’s inaugural Dow Agrosciences Pro-Am. The Taranaki and New Zealand seniors representative recorded 13 birdies and an eagle with a solitary bogey for an impressive 14 under par total –three shots clear of leading professional David Saunders and a further six shots ahead of Rodger Davis. Not only did Martin upstage the 35 professionals in the field he was also the leading amateur with the best individual stableford score on each day with 42 points at New Plymouth and 44 at Westown –not bad considering he plays off a scratch handicap.
   
• The finalists of the 2010 Secondary Schools twilight competition have been determined after three rounds of round robin. Francis Douglas College and Spotswood College have qualified from North Taranaki while the southern qualifers are Opunake and Hawera. Twelve teams participated in this years competition, with the 18 hole final will be held at Stratford next Wednesday.
   
• Kaitake golfer Robbie Sim (72) recorded the best gross at the Vanburwray Open sponsored golf tournament at Fitzroy on Sunday. The best nett score in the senior division went to Trevor Woodward (72-12-60) while Tom Austin had the best stableford score. In the intermediate division, Paul Markham took out the best gross with an 80 off the stick, Bruce Borrie (80-16-64) the best nett and Howard Jones the best stableford with 39 points. The junior division gross was won by Tony Richards with an 85 off the stick, Janice Verry (92-27-65) took out the best nett and Michael Gilbert the best stableford with 40 points.
   
• The inaugural Bruce McCallum Memorial golf tournament will be held at the Te Ngutu Golf Club on Friday 26th March. The tournament will feature trophies for the best overall gross and the best overall nett scores plus the best nett score by a Te Ngutu player. The tournament will be a massed start at 11am.

04/03/10

• The Taranaki men’s representative team have a top five placing in their sights when they compete in the SBS Southland Invitational at the Otatara Golf Club in Invercargill this weekend. The five strong side of Aarun Langton, Brad Hayward, Steven Heyes, Doug Moores and Tim White have all shown early season form and will be looking to make amends for their bottom place finish at the national matchplay interprovincials in December. 15 district teams from throughout New Zealand will compete in the 72 hole event. Taranaki finished 9th in last years event after being in third position going into the final day.
   
• Defending champions Taranaki Coachlines Eltham suffered an upset 5-4 loss to Sandfords Manaia in the second round of the Taranaki Golf Handicap Pennants competition on Sunday. Tudor Lodge Te Ngutu remain the only unbeaten team in the southern section after a narrow 5-4 win over fellow club side Avon Motel Te Ngutu Two. In the Taranaki wide section, Hurlstones Inglewood and Pungarehu are the frontrunners with both teams recording wins in the first two rounds. The north one division is very tight with Speights Waitara One recording a win and a half to date while Fitzroy Two remain unbeaten after an opening round win and a bye in the second round. Westown Brown One and Speights Kaitake Two are the frontrunners in the north two section with both teams recording two wins from their opening two matches.
   
• Former Ryder Cup player John Garner broke his own course record at the Urenui Golf Club recently. The 63 year old professional, who also shot his age for the first time started in spectacular fashion with seven straight threes to be five under par and a further birdie on the ninth saw him out in 29. Two bogies on the 12th and 15th were countered by a hat-trick of birdies on the last three holes and a seven under par round of 63. Garner tees it up in the first round of the $15,000 DowAgrosciences Pro-Am at New Plymouth today
   
• The Opunake Golf Club completed their men’s strokeplay championships recently. In the senior division Richard Emanuel (68-70-138) was a runaway winner over Nathan Young (73-75-148) while Shane Lark (76-80-156) edged out Angelo Hill (77-80-157) to take the intermediate title. In the junior division Wayne Davey (84-91-175) snuck in by a shot over Peter Johnston (89-87-176) and Sean Langton (91-85-176) while John Willaims prevailed in the 18 hole Limit division with a 93 off the stick.
   
• Westown professional Craig Owen has enjoyed mixed success in Legends professional events over the last two weeks. Owens results and event winners have been:
  $100,000 Handa NZ Senior Masters at the Millbrook Golf Resort 19-21 February in Queenstown: Michael Harwood (70-66-70-206); Craig Owen (74-73-73-220-10th=)
  $10,000 Club Car Queenstown Legends Pro-Am at the Queenstown Golf Club 23rd February: Graham Banister and David Saunders 68; Craig Owen 73-11th=)
  $30,000 City of Dunedin Legends Pro-am at the Otago Golf Club 26-27 February: Brian Jones (70-69-139); Craig Owen (71-75-146-15th=)
  $15,000 Pak n Save Legends Pro-am at the North Shore Golf Club 1st March: Garry Merrick 67; Craig Owen 72-3rd=
  $10,000 SAS International Legends Pro-Am at Gulf Harbour 2nd March: David Good 65; Craig Owen 70-5th=
   

17/02/10

• Westown professional Craig Owen finished second in the opening event of a series of Legends events on Tuesday. Owen fired a five under par round of 67 to finish one shot behind Jim Lapsley in the $10,000 event played at the Pegasus Golf Club in Christchurch. Owen will compete in the $100,000 Handa New Zealand Senior Masters at Millbrook starting tomorrow. The senior professionals then have a further four events before they compete in the $15,000 DowAgrosciences Pro-am to be played at the New Plymouth and Westown Golf Clubs on March 4th and 5th.
   
• Taranako’s premier interclub competition tees off this weekend with the first round of the Taranaki men’s handicap pennant competition. 28 teams will compete in four sections –north (2), south and Taranaki wide, with the top two teams from each section progressing to the playoff phase of the competition. The introduction of a Taranaki wide section has attracted eight teams while seven teams will compete in the north and south sections . with six teams in the second northern section. Round one matches on Sunday will be played at Opunake (Taranaki wide section), Waitara (North one), Urenui (North two) and Eltham (South). Eltham are the defending handicap pennant champions.
   
• Taranaki professionals Grant Moorhead (New Plymouth) and Craig Owen (Westown) enjoyed mixed success in the opening series of pro-am events on the 2010 NZPGA tournament schedule which began last week. Owen picked up second place at the $10,000 Paraparaumu Beach Golf Club Pro-Am last Wednesday while Moorhead’s (74-66-140) best result was a third equal placing in the $15.000 Masterton / Eketahuna Pro-Am last weekend. Tourament results and other scores of interest and placings were:
  $10,000 Waikanae Pro-Am-Tuesday 9th February: 66-John Bae, 69-Grant Moorhead (7th), 71-Craig Owen (16th),74-Troy Ropiha (31st),76- Dominic Barson (41st)
    $10,000 Paraparaumu Beach Pro-Am –Wednesday 10th February: 66-Kevin Chun, 69-Craig Owen (2nd), 72-Grant Moorhead (6th=), 74-Troy Ropiha (14th=), 75-Dominic Barson (18th=)
  $10,000 Martinborogh Pro-Am –Thursday 11th February: 64-Matthew Holten, Jason McIntosh, 68-Dominic Barson (8th=), 70-Grant Moorhead (14th=),72-Craig Owen (26th =), 76-Troy Ropiha (46th=)
  $15,000 Eketahuna / Masterton Prto-Am Saturday 13th and Sunday 14th February: Andrew Green (70-64-134), Grant Moorhead (74-66-140-3rd=), Dominic Barson (74-67-141-10th=), Troy Ropiha (72-69-141-10th=),(Craig Owen (75-72-147-20th=),
   
• Opunake’s Aarun Langton returns to the Taranaki team for the SBS Southland Invitational tournament to be played at the Otatara Golf Club from 6-7 March. The five strong side was selected from the Foreman Trophy and the Westown Classic with the top four gross scores from the six rounds counting for selection. The team and scores were: Brad Hayward (72-68-73-69-282), Aarun Langton 970-72-73-70-285), Tim White (71-72-70-72-285), Doug Moores (76-69-69-72-286) and Steven Heyes ( 74-67-74-72-287). The team will be managed by Karl Stratton (Te Ngutu).
   
• 69 players participated in the latest Taranaki veterans event at Te Ngutu last week. The winners of the ladies monthly button was Don Sole (Inglewood) with 43 points while Margaret Bishop (Urenui) took out the women’s monthly button with 39 points. Other leading scores were: Senior men: Steve Boyer 42, Brian Arthur 39, Duncan Elliott 38, Nigel Preston 38; Intermediate men: Des Beaven 40, Trevor Hughes 40, Ron Thomson 38, Trevor Bailey 38; Junior men: Ross Cleaver 43, Alan Coplestone 40, Ian McKillop 40; Ladies: Ann Braithwite 35
   

10/02/10

• The Westown Golf Classic takes centre stage this weekend with 65 entries currently confirmed for the 72 hole event. Defending champion Aarun Langton (Opunake) faces some stiff opposition with the young guns the biggest threat to his bid to retain the title. Leading the charge are the New Plymouth trio of Brad Hayward (18), Steven Heyes (18) and Sanjay Modgill (15). Hayward is fresh off a win at the Foreman Trophy while Heyes and Modgill have both shot low rounds over recent weeks. One player who could upset the younger brigade is veteran Darryl Baird, who won the Coastal champs last week and put in a solid performance at the Foreman Trophy.
  The women’s event looks to be a two horse race with Eleanor Hodson and Robyn Chambers the only representative players in the field of six.
   
• Hosts Manukorihi successfully defended the Foreman Trophy on Sunday. The 36 hole club teams nett event was won by the Manukorihi number two side comprising Mike Foster (67-71-138), Bryan Bellamy (70-76-146). Paul Martin (68-76-144), Paul Fairhurst (70-75-145), Aaron Hotter (70-75-145) and Richard Hamil (68-68-136) who finished with a combined total of 854, two shots clear of the Manukorihi number one team. The gross title went to New Plymouth team of Brad Hayward (72-68-140). Doug Moores (76-80-156), Steven Heyes (74-75-149), Murray Martin (73-71-144), Thomas Hill (71-75-146) and Colin Heyes (75-74-149) with a combined total of 884 . Inglewood were 26 shots back in 2nd place.
   
• Brad Hayward (72-68-140) has taken the early lead in the 2010 Taranaki Golf Order of Merit with a two stroke win over last year’s Order of Merit winner, Aarun Langton (70-72-142). Outright third place went to Hawera’s Tim White (71-72-143) while Murray Martin (73-71-144) and 15 year old Sanjay Modgill (73-71-144) rounded out the top five.
    Westown’s Allan Stewart (7 handicap) recorded the best overall nett of the Taranaki Golf Tour players with nett rounds of 67 and 66 for a total of 133 while second place was shared by Brian Martelletti (5) with nett scores of 71 and 66, and Jared Glentworth (10) with nett scores of 65 and 72 for a total of 137.
   
• A disappointing field of only eight women competed in the first event of the Taranaki Tour at Manukorihi on Sunday. Taranaki representative selector Eleanor Hodson (81-74-155) took out the best gross while Fay Rowe won the best nett with rounds of 78 and 79 off a nine handicap.
   
• Former golf professional Daryl Baird smashed his own course record on his way to claiming the 2010 Coastal Championship at Pungarehu on Saturday. Baird, who regained his amateur status late last year, fired eight birdies on his way to a bogey free round of eight under par 60 to eclipse his previous record by one shot. The former Taranaki representative shot 31 for the final nine holes of the 27 hole event to easily claim the championship. Other results were:
  Intermediate men: Gross- Craig Hammersley and Alan Rothwell 112; Nett-Barry Christiansen 99.5; Stableford-David Leatherby 56; Junior men: Gross- Hamish Kape 122; Nett-Lex Ward 99.5; Stableford- Robert Billing 55; Senior ladies- Gross-Sharon Adamson 120; Nett-Bev Robinson 105; Stableford-Diane Forsyth 50; Junior ladies-Gross- Dianne Williams -147; Nett-Betty Gadsby 120.5

27/01/10

• Taranaki’s young guns fired at the North Island under 19 boy’s strokeplay championships at Hamilton last week. In form 18 year old Steven Heyes (74-73-70-217) shot a two under par final round to finish second equal in the 54 hole event. Heyes finished 20th at the North Island open championship earlier this month. Clubmates Sanjay Modgill (76-67-78-221) and Brad Hayward (74-75-74-223) also performed well finishing 8th and 18th respectively in the under 19 age group category. Modgill, who has only just turned 15 , finished third in the under 17 section and shot the tournament low round of 67. His five under par round included a double bogey on his third hole and then an impressive eight birdies before a late bogey on the 17th hole. The under 19 championship was won by Vaughan McCall (68-68-74-210) from Gore.


• Another successful Lions Charity Golf Tournament was held at Stratford on Sunday with a field of 88 taking part. The tournament has now been running for 35 years and approximately $1500 was raised for local charities. The weather cleared for the day and provided great scoring conditions. The overall best net went to John Kearton shooting an 82 off his 23 handicap for a net 59. Other leading scores were: Men- Best Stableford – John Anderson 44; Ladies Best Stableford - Lynette Harrison 42; Division Winners were - Senior Ladies Ann Braithwaite 40, Junior Ladies Glenys Thompson 39, Senior Men John Cusdin 41, Intermediate Men Russell O’Keefe 43, Junior Men Graeme Bishop 42 . Winners for Lions member trophies were: Best Net - Colin Caskey 67, Best Stableford - Geoff Davidson 40 and the teams event was won by Urenui & Districts Lions with 154 points.


• Arriving late for his tee time in the final round of the North Island under 19 championship proved to be a costly mistake for Inglewood’s Tyla Otene. The 16 year old was well placed after opening rounds of 77 and 72 but failing too confirm his final round tee time led to disqualification when he turned up at the St Andrews course to find his playing group had already teed off.


• Taranaki competitors, Vanessa Bouvet (89-90-87-266) and Holly Winter (91-97-96-284) finished well off the pace at the North Island womens strokeplay championship played at the Taupo Golf Club last week. The event was won by Auckland’s Lydia Ko (70-72-70-212) with a seven under par total.


• ‘Big Bird’ Brian Rowland recorded the best gross score at the Craig Owen open tournament held at Westown recently. Rowland shot a one under under par round of 71 to edge out James Malone, Carey Hobbs and Jin Ho Jung who all shot even par rounds of 72. 130 players competed in the 18 hole event with other leading scores being: Ladies gross-Svala Garner 86; Senior Men’s stableford- Eddie Hollard 43, Dominic Firkin 42, Clive Porter 41, Grant Lester 41; Junior men- Max Maaka 45, Steve Jury 45, Errol Tuffery 41; Ladies – Heather elliot 46, Janice Verry 44, Sharron Joseph 40


• The annual Beachcombers open tournament at Kaitake attracted around 140 entries this year. Leading scores were: Senior men-Gross- Craig Waite 71; Nett- Tom Austin (76-13-63), Stableford-Kelvin Bishop 41; Intermediate; Gross- R Duncan 78; Nett- Jack Thomson (79-19-70); Stableford-R Wood 41; Junior: Gross- Wayne Gray 84; Nett- Raymond Orme (86-25-61); Stableford –B Patu 41; Ladies: gross-Carol Chard 80; Nett-Andrea Cooper 67; Stableford- Kris White 42
  
• Student Charles Barnes notched his first hole in one while on holiday recently. The 15 year old used a seven iron to score the perfect shot on the 115 metre par three sixth hole at the Raglan Golf Club.

21/01/10

• The South Taranaki three day tournament attracted 138 entries this year with participants playing Te Ngutu on the first day, Hawera the second day and Manaia on the final day.
  In the senior men's division, Gary Marriner (69-66-70-205) took out the best nett, while Caleb Symes (75-77-69-221) had the best gross and Ducky Ropiha the best stableford with 112 points.
  In the intermediate division, Don Cameron (74-70-67-211) won the best nett, with Mark Ropiha (80-90-80-250) the best gross and Spike McKenna the best stableford with 109 points.
  The best nett in the junior division went to John Hockly (60-71-76-207) whilw Gary Johns (88-88-86-272) won the best gross and Matthew Phillips the best stableford with 118 points.
  The senior women's best nett went to Gareth Hughes (67-70-69-206), with Debbie McCallum (75-78-80-233) the best gross and Jenny Vandenberg the best stableford with 118 points.
  In the junior division, Michelle Furness (69-63-71-203) recorded the best nett, Wendy Cameron (95-92-95-282) the best gross and Wendy Burnard the best stableford with 114 points.
  


• 153 players were challenged with a severe southerly wind at the 9th annual Roger Rei tournament held at Patea on Friday.
  Despite the horrendous conditions local player Darcy Faiers recorded a brilliant one under par round of 72 to head Taranaki representative, Aarun Langton by two shots for the best overall gross round.
  The best overall nett score went to Fitzroy's Joshua Simpson (101-32-69) while Urenui's Svala Garner had the best women's gross with an 82.
  Other leading scores were: Senior men: Nett- James Malone 72; Intermediate: Gross- Mark Davis 83; Nett- Trevor Jones 71; Junior- Gross-Casey Whanau 92; Nett- Harvey Gibbs 72; Women: Nett- Allana Cameron 76


• Taranaki Rugby Union members will be trading boots for golf clubs when they host their inaugural golf day at the New Plymouth Golf Club on Friday 12th February.
  The competition format is a four ball team ambrose event with some of Taranaki's rugby greats being allocated as team captains for the Taranaki Junior Rugby fundraising event.
  There are some fantastic prizes up for grabs, including a hospitality table for 10 people at the Legends Lounge for the historic All Blacks versus Ireland test match to be held at Yarrows stadium in June.
  The golf day will also feature an exclusive aftermatch function and auction.
  For further details on the golf day contact Geoff Hitchcock at the Taranaki Rugby Union.
  


• The first Taranaki District Veterans event for 2010 was held at the Manukorihi Golf Club on Monday last week.
  The summer conditions attracted 107 starters and featured some very good scores.
  The winner of the Anderson Trophy for the men was Hugh Taylor (Mnukorihi) with 46 stableford points while Margaret Bishop (Urenui) won Anderson Trophy for the leading women's score with 39 points.
  Other leading scores were: Senior men: Dennis Little 43, Duncan Elliot 42, Roger Maxwell 41, Jim Wilson 41, Dennis Elliot41; Intermediate; Reg Woodfield 44, George Heal 43, Vaughan Leach 42; Junior: David Musker 44, Murray Davidson 40, Gordon Frampton 40; Women: Christine Ogle 38, Tui Maxwell 37


• Westown member Craig Ramage scored his first hole in one over the new year holiday period.
  Ramage, who is on a 12 handicap and been playing for five years used a pitching wedge to ace the 117 metre par three seventh hole at his home course


• The first event of the 2010 Taranaki Golf Tour is the Foreman Trophy which is being hosted by the Manukorihi Golf Club on Sunday 7th February.
  The 36 hole event features a men's 36 hole club teams event with six players per team as well as an individual prizes for the leading men's and women's gross and nett scores.
  

30/12/09

• The 2009 golfing year was not a memorable one in terms of achievements by our representative sides.  Both the men’s and women’s teams finished outside the top ten at their respective national championships while the men’s masters team squandered a great chance to make the semi-finals, leaving the women’ s masters as our top performing team with a fifth placing at the nationals.
  
  On the individual stage, Opunake’s Aarun Langton and Westown’s Rochelle Keegan were our top golfers locally, winning the Greaves Order of Merit men’s and women’s titles respectively.  New Plymouth golfers Brad Hayward (18) and Murray Martin (56) both made national sides with Martin being a member of the winning Asia Pacific Senior team.
  
  Our local professionals, Grant Moorhead (New Plymouth) and Craig Owen (Westown) had mediocre years with Moorhead finishing 5th on the NZPGA Order of Merit and Owen finishing 12th on the Australian PGA Legends Tour Order of Merit.  The Port Taranaki Open continues to be our premier event and this year attracted our strongest professional field ever with 48 professionals competing.  Local golfers have plenty to look forward to in 2010, with the inaugural $15,000 Dow Agrosciences Legends Pro-Am in early March getting the year off to a flying start.

• 74 players competed in the annual Twin Links tournament held at the Fitzroy and Waitara Golf Clubs on Saturday and Sunday.   The best 36 hole nett in the senior division went to Kasey Ross (Fitzroy) with 124 while clubmate Steve Hemara had the best stableford with 83 points.  In the intermediate division Mark Dickson was the leading nett with 123 while Trevor Wood (Manukorihi) had the best stableford with 83.  In the junior division, Ray Lock (Westown) recorded the best overall nett score of 120 with Steve Koot taking out the stableford with 83 points. The ladies division was won by Kathleen Gower with 83 stableford points with Esther Robson second on 74.

• 42 players participated in the nine hole Powerplay competition at the Inglewood Golf Club last week with competitors enjoying the modified stableford format.  The winning player scored 24 stableford points by doubling up on his three powerplay holes.  The winning score of 36 points went to 12 handicapper Derek Spurdle with nine handicapper Peter Joseph second on 35.  The Inglewood Golf Club will be hosting a series of Powerplay events every Wednesday in January.

• New Plymouth golfer Murray Coates notched his second hole in one when he used a seven iron to ace the 16 metre par three 14th hole at his home course on Saturday.  The seven handicapper’s last hole in one was on the par three 12th hole at New Plymouth.

23/12/09

• The 2010 Taranaki Golf Tour has been enhanced to include a Nett Order of Merit in 2010.  In addition to the Gross Order of Merit titles, which were won by Aarun Langton (Opuanke) and Rochelle Keegan (Westown) this year, a points ranking sytem will be introduced for the top 16 nett scores at each tour event in 2010.  The 16 players with the highest points aggregate for the season will then be invited to play in the Tour Championship final in November next year, with plenty of prizes up for grabs.  Players receiving grants for the Gross Order of Merit or finishing in the top 16 for the season will not be eligible for the Nett competition.
  The Tour schedule for 2010 is:

Sunday 7th February – Foreman Trophy – Manukorihi
Saturday 13th February - Sunday 14th February – Westown Classic - Westown
Sunday 28th March - Taranaki Summer Strokeplay – Te Ngutu
Sunday 24th April – South Taranaki Strokeplay - Hawera
Sunday 16th May - Waimate Plains – Manaia
Saturday 29th May – Carey Shield - Patea
Sunday 12th September – Egmont Champs - Stratford
Thursday 30th September - Sunday 3rd October – Port Taranaki Open - New Plymouth
Saturday 20th November - Tour Championship - Waverley

• The Te Ngutu women’s team of Debbie McCallum, Sharleen Robinson and Tau Gray finished fifth in the national women’s gross stableford rosebowl competition for 2009.  The trio won the Taranaki title with a score of 122.2 points, with the national title going to the Arrowtown Golf Club (Otago) with 136.4 points.

• Westown professional Craig Owen (73-72-78-223) fired a seven over par total to finish in a tie for 9th position at the A$80,000 Australian PGA Seniors Championship at the Byron Bay Golf Club last weekend.  The 54 hole event was won by Australian professional Peter Senior (72-63-72-207), who cruised to a nine shot victory over Larry Canning (75-70-71-216) and Michael Harwood (70-69-79-207).

• A two under par round of 70 gained New Plymouth professional Grant Moorhead fourth place in the season ending $10,000 Te Puke Pro-am last Friday.  The 18 hole event was won by the runaway winner of the 2009 Order of Merit, Michael Hendry ($31,106) and Richard Lee, who both shot four under par rounds of 68, with former Taranaki player, Troy Ropiha third on 69.   Ropiha ($18,354) finished third on the Order of Merit in his debut season while Moorhead ($13,355) finished in 5th place.

• New Plymouth golfer Melva Barrett scored her first hole in one last week when she aced the 103 metre par three sixth hole Barrett who has been playing for around 30 years used a three iron.

16/12/09

• Nine holes... two flags... you decide.   Risk and reward.  That's the essence of PowerPlay Golf.  PowerPlay Golf is a new nine-hole form of golf, where there are two flags on every green.  You can score extra points if you take a 'PowerPlay' and go for the Black Flag, but you have a limited number of 'PowerPlays' in your round - so you must choose wisely and be ready to take risks. Call it golf's equivalent of Twenty20 cricket, if you will.  Quicker, more fun, intensely competitive.  Taranaki golfers can experience Powerplay Golf at the Inglewood Golf Club next Wednesday with the club hosting a nine hole stableford event from 3-6pm.   By opting to take a powerplay and play to the more difficult hole position a player can double their stableford points.

• A field of 147 players participated in the New Plymouth Golf Club open Christmas hamper on Sunday.  In the senior division, Taranaki representative Doug Moores shot a two under par round of 70 to take out the best gross, while David McCallum (72-5-67) won the best nett and Kevin McCombie the best stableford with 41 points.  In the intermediate division John Moore had the best gross of 79 with Trevor Parris (81-14-67) the best nett and Nathan Taylor the best stableford with 43 points.  The best gross in the junior divisision went to Mark Eichstaedt with an 86 while Waitara’s Ross Jenkins (87-27-60) had the day’s best nett score of 60, with Ian Horner winning the stableford with 44.  In the womens division, Pene Trousselot (104-38-66) had the best nett score and Cheryl Simpson the best stableford with 38.

• The Glassman Christmas hamper at Tumahu attracted 110 entries on Sunday.  The best gross was recorded by Joseph Doyle with a four under par round of 66.  The best nett in the senior men’s division went to Jordan Linn (67-9-58) with Will Short the best stableford on 42.  In the intermediate division, tournament sponsor Mark Goodwin (79-19-60) won the best nett and Dennis Gilbert the best stableford on 44.  The junior division was dominated by two 12 year olds with Hamish Kape (83-24-59) winning the nett and Alex Kalin taking the stableford with 45 points.  In the womens division Barb Crombie had the best nett score of 65 and Val Bridgement won the stableford with 42 points.

• The latest Taranaki Veterans event attracted 80 starters at Kaitake last week.  The monthly button was taken out by Duncan Elliot with 40 points.  Other leading scores were: Senior men - Frank Reagan 37, Peter Greer 36; Intermediate - Peter Fake 38, Alban Reid 38, Buster Smale 37; Junior - Bob Silk 40, Ian Siffleet 40; Ladies - Margaret Bishop 36, Kaye Cavey 35.

• There are plenty of options for golfers over the Christmas and New Year period.  The 36 hole Twin Links two day tournament tees off at Fitzroy on Boxing day with the second day at Waitara.  There are still a few tee times available for the annual Cobb & Co North Taranaki three day golf tournament which starts at New Plymouth on Monday 28th December, with the second day at Westown and the final day at Inglewood on Wednesday 30th December.  The new year starts with a the South Taranaki three day tournament being played at Te Ngutu (1st) , Hawera (2nd) and Manaia on the 3rd of January.

09/12/09

• The young guns failed to fire at last week’s national men’s interprovincial championship played at the Hokiwhitu Golf Club in Palmerston North.  The five strong side failed to win a match in the six rounds of section play with the highlight of the week being a halved game against semi-finalists Wellington.   Brad Hayward recorded 1½ wins at number one, while Steven Heyes had the best individual record with 2½  wins at number two.  Doug Moores and Thomas Hill both recorded two wins at number three and four respectively while Tim White had 1½ wins at number five.

• The Hawera Golf Club open Christmas hamper attracted 120 entries last Sunday.  In the senior division, Taranaki representative Aarun Langton fired a four under par 68 to win the gross while Jamie Johnston (Te Ngutu) recorded the best nett (77-11-66) and the trio of Tom Simpson, Philip Joblin and Brett Prestidge shared the best stableford with 41 points each.  The intermediate division nett went to Opunake’s Chook Hohaia (80-15-65) with Tyler Frost (Hawera) taking the stableford with 39 points.  In the junior division Shaun Kalin (Manaia) recorded the best nett (88-22-66) with Irwin Hooper and Jock Jellyman both scoring 41 points.  The ladies division was won by Gareth Hughes (Patea) with 44 points with Evelyn Gibbs (Patea) on 40 and Wendy Cameron (Hawera) on 39.

• A bumper field of 172 golfers played in the Fitzroy Open Christmas Hamper last Sunday.  In the senior division four players – Evan Jones, Matt and Jamie Reid and Robbie Sim all recorded the best gross score of even par 68 while the best nett in the senior division went to New Plymouth’s Nathan Peri (74-13-61). Other leading scores were: Intermediate: Gross – Kelvin Bishop 74; Net – Ron Donghi 60, Aaron Judson 62, Chris Sole 65, Ron Davis 65; Stableford - Niel Jans 43, Stuart Chapman 41; Junior: Gross - Ian Hunger 85; Nett - Aaron Leppard 61, Martin Rice 62, Glenn Peri 64; Stableford - Neville Jordan 42, Kevin Cooper 41; Women - Lyn Rei 36.

• Local players dominated the Stratford Open Christmas hamper prize list last Saturday.  In the senior division Peter Smithson was in sizzling form shooting a five under par round of 66 off his four handicap for a nett 62, two shots clear of Craig Meredith (78-14-64).  In the intermediate division Mark Fraser (81-19-62) edged out Westown visitor Chris Fenwick (84-21-63) while Barry Knowles (101-37-64) took the junior honours over Strathmores Mike Petrie (97-32-65).  The ladies division was won by Jenny Oien (95-26-69) with Debbie Volzke (118-47-71) finishing second.

02/12/09

• Around 100 junior golfers have entered the Steve Williams Mixed Age Group Classic which starts at Stratford next Thursday.  The inaugural 72 hole strokeplay tournament has attracted good support from outside the province with two thirds of the field being visitors to the region.  The local entries feature the three Joesph brothers –Kyle. Ben and Peter (Inglewood) plus a trio of brothers with Jamie and Matt Reid (Fitzroy), Sachin and Sanjay Modgill (New Plymouth) and Tyla and Jaron Otene.
  
  13 girls have entered to date including the Manaia trio of Celeste McLean, Holly Winter and Claudia Munro.
  
  Competitors will compete in four divisions – under 13, under 16, under 19 and under 25.  The Stratford Golf Club will host play on Thursday and Friday with the final two rounds at Inglewood on Saturday and Sunday.

• New Plymouth professional Grant Moorhead (67-74-71-80-291) had another horrendous last round in the latest Australia PGA event, the A$135,000 New South Wales Open which finished on Sunday.  Moorhead who was in line for a top ten finish, had a bogey, two double bogeys and a triple bogey in the opening nine holes of the final round to blow out of contention.  A further bogey on the 10th and a double bogey on the 14th were countered by birdies on the 13th and 18th holes.   However the damage had already been done and Moorhead had to settle for a share of 30th place along side USPGA tour player Nathan Green who matched Moorheads disastrous final round of 80.  The event was won by Leigh McKechnie (70-72-70-69-281) with the best of the Kiwi’s being Mark Purser (66-73-74-71-284) who tied for fourth.

• Fitzroy golfer Colin Wray notched up his third hole in one last week and his second ace at the 132 metre par three 15th hole on his home course.  The 71 year old holed out on the same hole, almost 10 years to the day he played the perfect shot with a six iron.

• The McDonald Real Estate sponsored Taranaki Primary schools golf day attracted a record number of entries last week with 44 teams competing from throughout Taranaki.  Teams from as far away as Mokau and Waverley entered the event with a record number of 56 girls also competing in the four strong ambrose teams event.

• 180 players teed it up in the Te Ngutu Open Xmas Hamper with some hot scoring in the windy conditions.  In the senior division Bernie Keegan (Westown) shot a 74 off his 13 handicap for 46 stableford points with local player Brett Prestidge shooting a one under par round of 70 for 43 points.  The Intermediate division was shared by John Pene (Westown) with an 81 off his 17 handicap and Samuel Houghton (Te Ngutu) who shot an 80 off his 16 handicap, both recording 43 points.  In the junior division Jarrod Pettet (Te Ngutu) had the days best score with 48 points (88-29-59) with  clubmate Peter Fake second on 42.  The ladies division was won by Dianne Jellyman (Te Ngutu) with 43 points with Kaye Mihaljevich (Te Ngutu) second on 42.