Golfer Pacific NZ - January 2019

January 2019 14th year as NZ’s exclusive Golf club magazine

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Annika Sorenstam’s 24-second rule

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EDITORIAL

NEW ZEALAND EDITORIAL Paul Gueorgieff pgueorgieff@yahoo.co.nz Ph: 64 4 565 0385 Mob: 64 27 227 1038 pgueorgieff@yahoo.co.nz

Michael Campbell’s comeback will be of much interest

I

By Paul Gueorgieff Editor, Golfer Pacific NZ

t was this time last year that I wrote a column about Michael Campbell.

The former star New Zealand golfer had announced his intention to return to competition and the column highlighted just how lucrative it could be .

Campbell turns 50 next month which makes him eligible for the seniors’ tours in the United States and in Europe.

Last year he said he would play some main tour events in preparation for the seniors’ events. He wanted to hit the ground running the day he turned 50.

That hasn’t happened but it was great to read that he has

confirmed the resumption of his career in next month’s New Zealand Open near Queenstown.

Campbell is a past New Zealand Open winner. To the delight of a home crowd, the Wellingtonian won the 2000 open when it was played at Paraparaumu Beach, north of Wellington.

He was second in the following two years at The Grange in Auckland in 2001 and when it returned to Paraparaumu Beach in 2002.

Could he win again 19 years later? Probably not. He will have the distraction of being the centre of attention in the tournament lead-up, he will not have played for more than three years and many of his rivals will be up to 30 years his junior.

But it will be very interesting to see how he performs. If he makes the cut it would be a case of very well done. If he doesn’t make the cut, all will not be lost.

But with it will come the realisation of what is required to make it on the seniors’ tours.

Campbell’s victory in the 2005 United States Open means he can play on either of the senior circuits in the US or Europe. And there’s plenty of money to be won, especially in the US. German golfer Bernhard Langer is the prime example.

Last year he racked up $US2.2 million in prizemoney from what is now called the PGA Tour Champions. Let me put that in New Zealand dollars — $NZ3.28 million. Can you remember the

last time you earned more than $3 million in a year?

Langer, 61, has literally made a fortune on the seniors’ tour.

Langer won $US3.6 million in 2017. In 2016 he won $US3 million. In 2015 he won $US2.3 million. In 2014 he won $US3 million. In 2013 it was $2.4 million.

In 2012 it was $2.1 million.

He had a bad year in 2011 with only $650,000.

In 2010 it was $2.6 million. In 2009 it was $2.1 million. In 2008 it was $2 million.

They are truly astounding figures.

Nobody is expecting Campbell to replicate Langer but if he can get his game together he can make a very comfortable living.

SALES & CLUB PACKAGE GOLF TRAILS & NOTICEBOARDS Leigh Smith smith.sun@bigpond.com Ph: 0061 7 5504 6334 Fax: 0061 7 5609 6061 Mob: 0061 433 163 043 LAYOUT & DESIGN Sarah Head Creative layout.golferpacificnz@outlook.com PUBLISHER Golfer Pacific NZ LTD PO Box 51338 Tawa, Wellington 5249, New Zealand ACCOUNTS Leigh Smith smith.sun@bigpond.com SUBSCRIPTION $60.00 per annum including GST smith.sun@bigpond.com Ph: 0061 5575 7444 Mob: 0061 433 163 043 NEW ZEALAND MAIL ADDRESS PO Box 51338 Tawa, Wellington 5249, New Zealand AUSTRALIAN MAIL ADDRESS PO Box 264 Chevron Island QLD 4217, Australia COVER PHOTO: Former champion golfer Annika Sorenstam and Australian golfer Grace Kim pictured after Kim’s brilliant 10-under par on the second day of the Annika Invitational Australasia tournament in Wellington.

Kim went on to win the event.

COPYRIGHT All material published in Golfer Pacific NZ is subject to all forms of copyright. Contents of this newspaper cannot be reproduced in any way, shape, or form without the permission of the editor. Views expressed in editorial contributions do not necessarily refl ect the opinions of this newspaper, its management. New Zealand Golfer Pacific is published Golfer Pacific NZ Limited. The company’s registered office is unit 10/7 Aruma St Chevron Island QLD 4217.

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Michael Campbell who will play in the New Zealand Open before embarking on a seniors golfing career

at the highest level.

Michael Campbell to resume career in NZ Open

M

ichael Campbell will re-commence his golfing career, following three years in retirement, at the New Zealand Open next month.

“I’m very excited to start the next chapter of my golfing career at the 100th New Zealand Open in Queenstown,’’ said Campbell, winner of the United States Open in 2005.

“It’s been three years since I retired and I now plan to join the senior tour. I can’t think of a better way to kick off the season than playing at home, in what is going to be a milestone event.

“The New Zealand Open is one of my favourite golfing tournaments. We are lucky to have an event of this calibre here in New Zealand – it brings top international talent to New Zealand and has helped me and many others progress our careers. I couldn’t miss being part of the 100th celebration (of the New Zealand Open).”

Campbell has been retired from competitive golf since 2015 and his 50th birthday coincides with the week of celebratory events leading up to the New Zealand Open. That age makes him eligible for the PGA and European senior tours.

Campbell is one of only three Kiwi professionals to have won a golf major which he achieved when he beat Tiger Woods to win the US Open. The other two Kiwis to win majors are Bob Charles and Lydia Ko. Campbell and the 100th New Zealand Open team also announced Manuka Doctor (a sponsor of Campbell) will join the list of major sponsors for the event.

Said tournament committee chairman John Hart: “To have a home-grown successful New Zealand company like Manuka Doctor come on board is a real vote of confidence in our event. We are absolutely delighted that they have elected to be a part of our 100th tournament celebration.” ”It is a thrill for us to have Michael Campbell return to play in New Zealand again and we are particularly grateful that, through our association with Manuka Doctor, we are able to add a former major winner of his calibre to our field,” says Hart.

“One hundred years of the New Zealand Open is something all Kiwis should feel proud of. This is an iconic sporting event and one that deserves celebrating.”

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Manuka Doctor representative Nicola MacFarlane said: “We are thrilled Michael Campbell – one of New Zealand’s golfing elite – will be playing in the New Zealand Open. It’s great to be able to bring him home to play in such a premium golfing event being played out in picture perfect Queenstown. Together we are showcasing the very best of New Zealand to the world.”

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Youth Olympics gold medal and Annika Invitational win for Australian

By Golfer Pacific editor, Paul Gueorgieff

GOLF NEWS 4

I

t was a dream finish to 2018 for Australian golfer Grace Kim. In October of last year she won the gold medal for golf at the Summer Youth Olympics in Argentina. Two months later she put the icing on the 2018 cake when winning the Annika Invitational Australasia in Wellington.

The Wellington event was made all the more memorable for Kim when she scored a 10-under par 62 on the second of the three-day event for girls aged 12-18.

It was a personal best score for Kim and the best score for any of the Annika Invitationals which are also held in the United States, China, Sweden and Argentina.

Kim’s 62 was bogey-free and included eight birdies and an eagle at the Royal Wellington Golf Club at Heretaunga in Upper Hutt.

Kim said it was a round where everything clicked.

“I hit some great shots, made some putts,’’ Kim told Golfer Pacific.

“It all just happened. Whatever I didn’t get on the first day I got on the second day.’’

Kim, who turned 18 the day before the tournament started, won by three shots. She had a three-round total of 202 with scores of 72, 62 and 68. The

Grace Kim from Sydney with her trophy following her win in the inaugural Annika Invitational Australasia in Wellington last month

total was 14 under par.

The win earned her a start in the Annika Invitational in the United States this month. It was to be held at the World Golf Village in Florida from January 18-21.

It was to be Kim’s first golf tournament in the United States although she has been there twice before for a Carrie Webb golf scholarship and an Australian golf training camp.

Kim hopes to take up a professional golf career. She said she would play as many professional events as she can this year to see how she measures up and take it from there.

Kim took up golf as a 10-year-old after becoming tired of following her father around the golf course.

“My dad is a social golfer and I always used to follow him,’’ Kim explained.

“Eventually I got bored and next

January 2019

thing dad has got me a set of clubs and I said, okay, I’ll give it a try.’’

The Wellington tournament featured a golf clinic by former golfing great Annika Sorenstam who started the tournaments 10 years ago to inspire young women golfers.

At the clinic Sorenstam emphasised the need to have a positive frame of mind and to remember the good shots rather than the bad shots.

Kim picked up on the advice immediately.

“When I would finish a round I would always bring up the negatives — how I missed this putt and that putt,’’ she said.

“But now I’m going to talk about the positives.’’

The top three players gained starts in Sorenstam’s tournament in Florida.

Second was Yuka Saso from The Phillipines and third was another Australian, Doey Choi.

Saso, who was the first round leader, had a 11-under total of 205 with scores of 65, 70 and 70.

Choi had rounds of 69, 70 and 71 for a total of 210.

One shot back in equal fourth on 211 were two New Zealanders and an Australian. The New Zealanders were Dare Chung from Wellington and Carmen Li from Auckland.

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Annika Sorenstam's 24-second rule

By Golfer Pacific editor Paul Gueorgieff

A

nnika Sorenstam has a 24-second rule.

It’s not a rule for everyone but it underlines the attention to detail that the world’s greatest women golfer went to.

Sorenstam revealed her 24-second rule at a golf clinic during the inaugural Australasian version of the Annika Invitational held in Wellington last month.

Sorenstam, 48, has been retired from competitive golf for 10 years. But when she was playing she found she played her best golf when it took 24 seconds to visualise and play each shot.

At the clinic the Swede showed how she divided her pre-shot routine into two parts.

The first part was about two or three paces behind the ball which she described as the think box.

“This is where I prepare and get ready for the shot,’’ Sorenstam told the tournament players and many others.

The second part was alongside the ball which she called the play box.

“This is where I execute the shot.’'

The 24 seconds was timed from the moment the velcro on her glove was wrapped together. Then came visualisation of the shot, stepping forward and finally hitting the ball.

“It’s pretty simple,’’ she said. “We think in the think box and we play in the play box.’'

Sorenstam had no doubt this was a key to her wonderfully successful career in which she won an incredible 72 LPGA

Tour events and 10 major championships.

“This routine has helped me tremendously from a mental standpoint, a preparation standpoint, focus and also execution.

It took me a few years to figure it out but it was that time that kept me in the right frame of mind.’'

Sorenstam said the procedure would put her in the right frame of mind which she said was critical because the longest distance in golf is between the ears.

“This is a drill to help you make a decision and then commit to the shot. When we are committed to a shot, I would say most of the time we are pretty successful.

“When we are not committed to a shot, we don’t get the results that we want.’'

Sorenstam could not underline more the importance of having a strong mind.

It was something every golfer should work on.

“I believe that creating the right frame of mind is not by accident. It’s not just a freaky thing.

“I believe that you can be in the right frame of mind more often than people believe.

“The only way you can do that is to create that environment in your mind on your own. And if you can create that environment on your own, I believe you can shoot consistently lower scores.’'

Practice is obviously important but

more important was correct practice. Sorenstam admitted as a younger player she fell into the trap of practicing what she did well.

“It’s fun to practice your strengths. And guess what I was practising — my strengths, because it was fun.’'

She soon learned that her short game was suffering as a consequence.

“So my strengths got better and better and my short game got worse and worse.

It took a little while to learn that I needed to spend time on the things I’m not good at. It’s the weaknesses that define you as a player.’'

One of the things you can make a choice of in golf is your clubs. Sorenstam still plays in some pro-am tournaments and is sometimes surprised at the comments some golfers make about their clubs.

“I see players with all kinds of clubs in their bag. And when I ask about them, half of the clubs they don’t like.

“I would say why are you carrying them around if you don’t like them? I say take out the clubs you don’t like and put in the clubs you do like.’'

Sorenstam said when she was playing competitively she was never one to change clubs regularly.

“There are a lot of players out there that like to change clubs back and forth. I was maybe one of the few players that would stick with clubs for quite some time.

NEWS

“It’s all about confidence, knowing how to hit certain shots at the right time.

The last thing I want to do is take a new club in a new situation and have to worry if it works or not. Really make sure you have clubs that you like and are comfortable with.’'

Sorenstam is also big on having a positive mindset. We all play bad shots and she said it is fine to be disappointed initially. But the most important shot in golf is the next one and Sorenstam said it was best to have your good shots to the forefront of the mind.

“When you hit a good shot, put it in your memory bank. Remember those shots. Remember the occasion, where you stood and what it meant at that time.

“If you hit a bad shot, do not remember it. Throw all bad shots out and keep all your good shots. During the round there is no need to keep on talking about the hook you had with the three wood. It really does have no purpose.’’

Your golf grip is clearly a fundamental of the golf swing but so was breathing, Sorenstam said.

“If you grip your club and you start to see the veins in you foreman, you are probably gripping the club a little too hard.

“If you have a relaxed grip you are most likely to have relaxed forearms, relaxed shoulders “And take a big breath. Breathing is important. You need to get oxygen into your muscles so you can relax. A relaxed swing is much more efficient than a tight swing.’'

Auckland wins yet again — this time without phones A uckland continued it’s domination in the women’s Interprovincial Championship when winning last month’s final 4-1 over hosts Canterbury at the Waitikiri Golf Club.

The win was the seventh for Auckland in the last eight years.

After beating a great Manawatu/Wanganui side in the morning, who will be proud of their efforts last year, Auckland was nearly unstoppable against Canterbury to win for the 25th time overall in the championship’s history.

Led by Carmen Lim and player of the tournament Miree Jung, the new-look team which was easily one of the youngest in the field, scored a total 35 points of the possible 40, proving why it deserved it’s name engraved once again.

Said Jung: “It’s an amazing feeling and to do it with this new team is so cool and it’s been such a fun week and I have to thank them all for that,” A contributing factor to the win may have been the lack of social media as part of team protocol during the week that kept their eyes on the prize.

Lim added: “We weren’t allowed our phones at night, which probably helped.”

The final day did not go without drama

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The Auckland team and Interprovincial trophy. Under the trophy is Vivian Lu and from left to right are Fiona Xu, Carmen Lim, Miree Jung, Grace Jung and Kelly Wu

as Canterbury was taken down to the wire against North Harbour in the semi-final, before Hillary O’Connor escaped with a halved match on the final hole after Anna An missed a short putt.

Leading up to that final putt, the match deserved to go to a playoff after locals witnessed some of the best golf of the week with Catherine Bell and Jessica Green going blow for blow by dropping

January 2019

15-foot putts and creating great excitement around the course.

There were some notable records with Miree Jung named player of the tournament in winning seven and halving one of her eight matches. The only other unbeaten player was Wellington number one Darae Chung.

Final result (Auckland names first):Carmen Lim def Juliana Hung 3 and 1, Vivian Lu def Hillary O’Connor 3 and 1, Miree Jung def Catherine Bell 3 and 2, Grace Jung lost to Olive Tapu 2 and 1 and Fiona Xu def Maddie May 5 and 4.

Final standings 1. Auckland 2. Canterbury 3. North Harbour 4. Manawatu/Wanganui 5. Wellington 6. Northland 7. Bay of Plenty 8. Otago 9. Hawkes Bay/Poverty Bay 10. Waikato 11. Tasman 12. Taranaki 13. Aorangi 14. Southland

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Compete in the World Amateur Golfers Championship

T

he World Amateur Golfers Championship (WAGC) is the world’s most prestigious tournament for amateur golfers. With five handicap divisions, amateur golfers have the opportunity to participate in a four day tournament against other international golfers of their skill level.

The WAGC starts off each year with qualifying and national finals before the five division winners head to the World Finals in October, this year to be held in Borneo, Malaysia. Previous world finals have been held in countries such as the USA, Turkey, Spain and South Africa.

2019 sees the WAGC heading into its 25th year and this will be the second year for a New Zealand team to be part of this fantastic event Premium Golf NZ is the New Zealand partner for the WAGC and they will be hosting the following events this year Qualifying rounds: - South Island Qualifying at Harewood Golf Club on March 17th - North Island Qualifying at Pakuranga Golf Club on March 24th The top 7 of each division will proceed to the National Final which will be held on

6

April 14th at Gulf Harbour Country Club.

The entry fee which includes both the qualifying and national final is $165.00.

The final division winners will receive a medal along with entry to the World Finals which includes economy air flights, 5 star accommodation and all meals at the WAGC. In 2018, Premium Golf NZ led a team of five to the world finals and on debut, the New Zealand Team had unprecedented success with two division winners and one runner up.

Thomas Spearman-Burn from Miramar Links won the 0-5.4 division, Henry Gao from Titirangi Golf Club won the 5.5-10.4 division and Grant Whelan from the Royal Auckland and Grange Club came second in the 10.5-15.5 division.

As part of the WAGC, there is an invitational event run at the same time which allows any amateur golfer to be a part of and experience the tournament. This invitational is well attended with some countries sending up to 30 people along with their national representatives! Royalty, VIP guests and business CEOs often play in the invitational.

Premium Golf NZ will be leading a tour

to Malaysia including the WAGC and the invitational on October 12th-26th. Places are already filing up so don’t miss the

January 2019

chance to be part of history!

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January 2019

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Caddies wanted for 100th New Zealand Open GOLF NEWS

M

ore than 150 caddies are required for the 100th New Zealand Open.

The tournament is being held at The Hills and Millbrook golf clubs in Queenstown from February 28-March 3.

At last year’s event there were a number of caddies required for the final’s day play, either caddying for some of the professionals or assisting many of the amateur players.

One of the volunteer caddies Tracy Tatom, from Christchurch Golf Club, had the experience of carrying the bag for the eventual winner, Daniel Nisbet.

Tracy described it as an “incredible experience that I will never forget”. Needless to say, he will be on the bag again this year.

With the format of 136 professional players and their amateur partners teeing off at The Hills and Millbrook on the Thursday, and then swapping courses on the Friday, approximately 150 caddies will be needed for the professional and amateur players.

On the Friday evening, there will be a pro-am cut of the top 30 amateurs and the top 60 professionals (plus ties), who will go on to play at The Hills on

the Saturday and Sunday.

Caddies will need to confirm registration on site at The Hills driving range no later than Wednesday, February 27 by 10am. Most of the caddy jobs will be pre-assigned ahead of arriving at the golf course to reduce “waiting around’’ time.

Caddies are paid a minimum of $100 plus a tip per round.

There is a $39 cost to register as a caddy, and all caddies receive a New Zealand Open logoed golf shirt and cap to wear while caddying and to take home as a souvenir.

Caddies should be social or serious golfers with a good level of fitness to carry the golf bag around The Hills and Millbrook golf courses.

Many of the caddies have enjoyed going to the event with one of the highlights being the Steve Williams Caddy barbecue on the Wednesday evening.

This is hosted by the tournament organisers and is an opportunity for the caddies to catch up with each other plus get some caddy tips from Steve Williams and his friends that stop by.

To register, please visit the official New Zealand Open website nzopen.

Last year’s New Zealand Open winner Daniel Nisbet and his caddy Tracy Tatom from Christchurch

co.nz and click on the volunteers link for the caddy registration page. It is also recommended that you plan your travel and accommodation promptly.

You won’t want to miss this 100th anniversary opportunity to caddy.

»» »» »» »» »» »»

Andrew Whiley Caddymaster NZ OPEN Dunedin Ph: 0274653222 caddymaster@outlook.com

Northland’s first win at men’s Interprovincials

N

orthland gained it's first win at the men's Interprovincial Championship in the tournament's 68-year history when defeating Auckland in the final.

The team of Luke Brown, Dale Clarke, Kadin Neho, Taylor Gill and Alex Neely came out of the gates in the final firing after defeating local hopes Canterbury in a superb semi-final.

After squeezing into the final four the day before, the Northlanders used all that momentum and more to carry them home and complete a fairytale victory at the Clearwater Golf Club in Christchurch.

Northland’s win capped a remarkable comeback for Clarke who last played in the tournament 11 years previous. Clarke racked up six wins from eight matches and was subsequently named player of the tournament.

“It’s an unbelievable feeling and I can’t explain it at this stage,” Clarke, 33, said with a beaming smile.

He said the player of the tournament award was merely cream on the cake.

“It’s an added bonus and didn’t expect the award, so we will certainly celebrate this evening,’’ he said.

“We just tried to stick together as a team all week, build together and it all worked out. I couldn’t be prouder of this bunch of boys.”

Clarke’s form added to recent success of note. He had earlier won the New Zealand Mid-Amateur followed by the Australian Mid-Amateur.

Kadin Neho secured Northland’s first point in the final with a convincing victory

8

over Johnny Tynan to calm the nerves before Clarke joined him. Things looked to be heading towards a number one showdown between Luke Brown and Jared Edwards before things started to unravel.

It was the early matches that went the distance with Northland’s number five Alex Neely securing the match-winning

point on the final hole to start the celebrations. He played his shot of the week when approaching into 17 which was converted with a birdie when it counted.

Next year’s Interprovincials will be held in Hawke's Bay. The result of the final was (Northland names first):- Northland 3-1/2 beat Auck-

January 2019

The Northland team which won Interprovincial Championship in Christchurch

land 1-1/2 Luke Brown lost to Jared Edwards 3 & 2, Dale Clarke defeated Jang Hyun Lee 4 & 3, Kadin Neho defeated Johnny Tynana 5 & 3, Taylor Gill halved with Kunaal Singh and Alex Neely defeated Jimmy Zheng 1 up.

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T

he LPGA Tour’s schedule for 2019 contains more tournaments and more prizemoney.

This season’s tour will comprise 33 events with more than $US70 million in prizemoney up for grabs – an increase of $US5 million on 2018.

The United States Golf Association has not yet confirmed the prize fund for the 2019 US Women’s Open, but it is believed to be more than $US5 million.

Three other majors – the ANA Inspiration, the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship and the Evian Championship – have all increased purses for 2019.

The biggest jump in prizemoney comes from the CME Group Tour Championship. Instead of giving a $US1 million bonus to the player who accrues the most points throughout the season, the top 60 players on the CME points list will be playing the championship to win a $US1.5 million first prize, the biggest in women’s golf.

“We are in one of the most exciting periods of time in LPGA history,” said LPGA commissioner Mike Whan.

“One look at our 2018 season shows the breadth of global talent on our tour, and I have no doubt that 2019 will continue this upward trend.”

There are four new events on the

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schedule, with the first two events of the season being two of them. First, the Diamond Resorts Tournament of Champions will start the campaign in Florida in January. The second event is The Victoria Open in Australia, which will take place from February 7-10 and is a joint event with the European Tour.

Players from both circuits will be playing outside Melbourne at Beach Golf Links in Barwon Heads, and for the first time in a professional tournament, men and women will be competing on the same course for the same amount of prizemoney.

Another highlight on the schedule includes a date change for the Evian Championship. After battling bad weather in the late September slot, the event, which is hosted in France near Lake Geneva, will now be played during the last week of July.

At the completion of the final tournament of the LPGA Tour’s season, the CME Group Tour Championship, there will be a new $US1 million bonus awarded. The Aon Risk Reward Challenge will award $US1 million to the player on the LPGA and the PGA who plays the best on the most strategically difficult holes throughout the season.

BELGIUM TAKES OUT WORLD CUP OF GOLF

B

elgium held off a late challenge from hosts Australia to win the $US7 million World Cup of Golf for the first time.

Thomas Detry and Thomas Pieters brought a five-shot advantage into the final foursomes at The Metropolitan Golf Club but Marc Leishman and Cameron Smith cut that to just two as the huge crowd began to get excited about a second Australian win in five years.

The Belgians, however, held their nerve over the final three holes, to sign for a 68 and finish the week at 23-under, three shots ahead of Australia and the Mexican pair Abraham Ancer and Roberto Diaz. Defending champions Søren Kjeldsen and Thorbjørn Olesen of Denmark closed with a 65 to finish at 17-under.

It was the eighth time in the last 10 stagings that the World Cup has been

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won by European Tour members.

“It feels amazing, world champions,” said Detry. “It was always nice to have that big brother (Pieters) talking to you and calming you down. It’s like you’re playing a game against your buddy at home, I learned a lot thanks to him.

“It’s kind of a dream come true.

There’s nothing like representing your country on the other side of the world.

It’s just amazing.”

Pieters added: “I’m super proud of him (Detry). That drive on 18 was unbelievable. I could see he was a bit nervous, I was nervous as well. To finish with a birdie tops it off. These putts on the back nine aren’t easy, I know, and he made plenty of them.

“I told my mum and dad it’s been a long time since I won and this feels as good as an individual title.”

PGA of America moving to Texas

T

he Professional Golfers’ Association (PGA) of America is moving its headquarters from Florida to Texas, where it will anchor a 600-acre, mixed-use development with an initial investment worth more than $US500 million.

January 2019

The PGA of America will initially employ at least 100 people at the Frisco-based headquarters. Under this agreement, two PGA Championships, two Women’s PGA Championships and potentially a Ryder Cup will be held in Frisco.

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January 2019

11

Two major winners confirmed for Australian Open Major championship winners Georgia Hall and Pernilla Lindberg have been confirmed to return for the next month’s Australian Open in Adelaide.

Hall, 22, became just the third Englishwoman to win the women’s British Open since it became a major when she won last August.

Hall has played in two Australian Opens and finished in the top 15 both times while on a previous trip to Australia she won the 2016 Victoria Open.

“I love coming to Australia to start my

season,” Hall said.

“It’ll be great to be back in Adelaide competing against such a strong field in a beautiful part of the world. It is always such a fun week, I’m already looking forward to it.”

Lindberg, 32, broke through as a major champion last year when taking out the ANA Inspiration, her first LPGA Tour victory. She has become a regular visitor to Australia.

“February will be my 10th year in a row at the women’s Australian Open, so it ob-

viously shows I love it,” Lindberg said.

“It’s a great way to start my season in Australia, and every golf course on the rotation in Adelaide is in great condition and always is a great test.

“Not only that, but there’s always good weather, and good food, too, in Adelaide.

There are so many different things that make me excited to come back.”

The open will be held from February 1417 and it will be the fourth year in a row it has been held in Adelaide. Next month’s event is being staged at The Grange Golf

Club which is the second time that venue has been used. The Grange also staged the open in 2016.

Tournament director Trevor Herden said it was a great testament to have major champions such as Hall and Lindberg continue to make Adelaide part of their schedule.

“Both Georgia and Pernilla have been really excited to get back to South Australia and I’m sure the crowds will sense that when they see them play at The Grange,” Herden said.

Jutanugarn sisters will be at Adelaide

T

he world's No 1 Ariya Jutanugarn and local favourite Minjee Lee have joined a growing list of leading players set to tee it up at the 2019 women's Australian Open next month.

Jutanugarn’s sister Moriya is also a confirmed starter for the February 1417 event at The Grange Golf Club in Adelaide.

Lee, 22, was at The Grange last month for the tournament launch and reflected on a fantastic 2018 LPGA season, which included a win and 13 top 10 finishes, second only to Jutanugarn, to catapult her to No 6 in the world.

Next month’s event will be Lee’s eighth Australian Open and her fifth as a professional.

“I had a really good season this year and one of my goals was to crack into the top 10 of the world rankings so I’m really happy to be in this position,” Lee said.

“I love coming back to Adelaide to play and obviously to play in front of a home

The Grange golf course in Adelaide which hosts next month’s women’s Australian Open

Justin Rose donates $US50,000 to disaster programme

E

nglish golfer Justin Rose has pledged to donate $US50,000 to disaster programme Habitat for Humanity Indonesia.

Thousands of people were left homeless after the 7.4 magnitude quake and tsunami struck and caused widespread devastation to areas in Lombok in August and Sulawesi in September.

Habitat for Humanity Indonesia, a partner of the Asian Tour, is committed to helping families affected by the recent disasters. Besides lending its support for the reconstruction of houses, water, sanitation and hygiene facilities, Habitat for Humanity also creates avenues for the golfing community to support meaningful housing and shelter project across Asia.

Rose, the world golf No 2, said: “I’m truly saddened by the events in

12

Sulawesi and Lombok and in a time of need for the survivors affected by these catastrophes, I hope my donation can help restore some sort of normality.''

In addition to Rose, numerous members of the Asian Tour have pledged their support for the relief efforts in the affected areas, as well as having participated in construction projects with Habitat for Humanity operations across the Asian region.

Rick Hathaway, Asia-Pacific vice president of Habitat for Humanity International, said: “We are grateful for the generosity of Justin Rose. We continue to appeal to the public to help build lasting change in the lives of families that Habitat is supporting in the disaster-hit areas of Sulawesi and Lombok, Indonesia.”

crowd is just amazing. I get such great support and something about playing at home is always really special and I love coming back.”

Jutanugarn, 23, won three times on the LPGA tour in 2018 including the US and Scottish opens.

The victories were among 17 top 10 finishes for Jutanugarn, helping the Thai finish 2018 on top of the world rankings.

“It has been a great year. I’m really proud of what I’ve achieved and happy to have been competitive in so many tournaments,” Jutanugarn said.

“I’ve always enjoyed coming to Australia to play and I’ve had a great time in Adelaide the past couple of years, so I can’t wait to come back in February and get my 2019 season started.”

Jutanurgarn’s older sister Moriya broke through for her first LPGA victory to win the Los Angeles Open in April and finish the year ranked 20 in the world.

New Asian golf series announced A

new Asian golf series, aimed at raising the profile of women’s professional golf during the off-season, has been launched in China.

The China Women’s Open, which was held last month, will be part of the new series which organisers said was being launched ``in response to rapid growth in demand for women’s sport across Asia''.

The series has been grandly named the World Golf Series and will comprise six Tour-calibre tournaments across Asia from late autumn 2019 to spring 2020.

The fields will comprise players from each major tour who qualify via the world women’s golf rankings.

Ivan Khodabakhsh, chief executive of the World Golf Series, said: “The China Women’s Open is a significant moment in

January 2019

the development of golf in the Asia-Pacific region particularly, and is testimony to the shift toward an omni-present sport culture among fans and TV viewers alike. The elite women’s tour players have brought a different tone of voice, which is very appealing to sponsors.”

T K Pen, chairman of the World Golf Series, said: “Women’s golf needs to evolve to fit the new media and event landscape, and I’ve received calls from several countries asking for a platform to showcase their top professional players in an open series without membership barriers.

“Rather than create another professional golf tour, I have decided to partner with Ivan to create a series of top tournaments that can meet these calls.’'

WWW.GOLFERPACIFIC.CO.NZ

Woods’ comeback encouraged by younger generation T iger Woods has paid tribute to the support received from the new generation of golfing stars for his amazing comeback from injury as he plots the United States’ quest in the 2019 Presidents' Cup. A little more than one year ago, Woods sat in the media centre at the 2017 Presidents' Cup just outside New York City and revealed he was unsure if he would ever play golf at the highest level again.

Fast forward 15 months and Woods has since delivered one of golf’s most compelling storylines, overcoming a fourth back surgery to claim his 80th PGA Tour title last August, contend for the FedEx Cup title where he finished second and also challenged in two of the major championships, finishing sixth and runner-up at The Open Championship and PGA Championship respectively last year.

Woods last month made what was a whirlwind two-day tour of Melbourne as the captain for the United States team that will head to Royal Melbourne Golf Club for the next Presidents' Cup from December 9-15.

Woods credited the young US team members with playing an important role in his comeback.

“Mentally, it gave me a shot in the arm.’’ Woods said at a press conference in Melbourne.

“The guys really encouraged me to come back and play. The text messages and the calls I got last year through the Presidents Cup was very uplifting.”

Woods also made it clear he wants to be a playing captain and help the US extend its domination over the international team, which will be led by Ernie Els. In 12 editions since 1994, the US has won 10 times, lost once at Royal Melbourne in 1998 and tied with the internationals in South Africa in 2003 where Woods battled Els in a sudden-death play-off in near darkness.

“Hopefully I can be a part of the eight that automatically qualify,’’ he said. ``If I don’t happen to be a part of that, then it’s up to me, my vice captains and the rest of the eight guys who automatically qualify (to decide) who’s going to be a part of the team, who best fits our groupings, our pairings, and will be part of the team.

“That’s a conversation I’ve got to have with my vice captains and the players, and hopefully I’ll be a part of the top eight. If not, then we’ve got to work on it.”

Woods’ 26 hours in Melbourne included media activities, sponsor visits and charity fund-raising and began with a photo tour of what he called, one of the greatest sporting cities in the world.

His rapid-fire stops included media stunts at the Eureka Tower where the American superstar was challenged with the most nerve-racking six-foot putt in town – a putting game on the Eureka Tower Skydeck 88 stories above the city. Just as he drew his putter back, the frosted glass turned clear exposing

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to cityscape below. Without batting an eye, Woods sunk the putt.

Woods also inspected the Royal Melbourne Golf Club with superintendent Richard Forsyth and shot a series of video and photo opportunities that included trick shots from YouTubers How Ridiculous and a surprise coaching moment with youth members of the Golf Australia My Golf programme. At a charity dinner

with Victorian premier Daniel Andrews, the two swapped stories about what makes the golf courses special in Melbourne's sand belt region.

“Playing here in the sand belt golf courses, it’s just heaven,” Woods said. “We are in probably one of the greatest sporting countries, cities in the world.”

Woods has played in eight Presidents' Cups but believes the next edition will be

extra special.

“I’ve been a part of the Presidents' Cup for 20 years. Now to have the opportunity to be a captain and to lead my guys into an environment that’s going to be fun, it’s going to be exciting, it’s going to be electric, and on top of that, on one of the best venues in all the world. There’s really nothing better as a player to evolve into the role of being a captain,” he said.

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January 2019

13

NZGOLFUPDATE

golf.co.nz

Looking back on the achievements of 2018

By Dean Murphy New Zealand Golf Chief Executive

A

s 2018 is now completed, it’s a great opportunity to look back and reflect on our recent activity. There are many reasons to feel satisfied as across many indicators, golf has enjoyed considerable recent success.

Participation, as measured by Sport New Zealand, is up by two percent, world class courses have opened, golf tourism is booming, and the positive profile of golf has arguably never been higher through media coverage of championships and the winning performances of kiwis on the world stage.

There are many challenges to be faced, however, the leadership and progress of New Zealand Golf over recent times has been very pleasing.

Our operations fall under three strategic priorities: Leading the game; Growing the game; and Supporting the game.

This article offers a brief review of our recent activity in these three areas.

LEADING THE GAME HIGHLIGHTS

· Strengthened governance with a highly professional gender balanced executive board and directors ranging in age from their 20s to their 60s. · Enhanced the relationship with NZ government including securing increased investment from Sport NZ. · Deepened our connection with international bodies including the R&A, the IGF, Augusta National, APGC and Golf Australia. A highlight was securing increased R&A investment to support golf in New Zealand. · Developed a new home of golf with the PGA at the Remuera Golf Club. · Founded the NZ Golf Industry Council as an advocacy body for the whole golf

industry. · Founded the golf sector environment group to help us understand and improve the environmental impact of golf in New Zealand · Secured strategic memorandum of understanding agreements with nine supporting golf organisations. · Actively participated in the development of the worldwide handicapping system. · Invited to continue as representative on the R&A rules of golf and rules of amateur status committees. · Adopted an inclusion charter to ensure we focus on developing and leading our sport in an inclusive manner. · Adopted a new women and girls in golf charter to ensure appropriate focus is given to this very important area. · Grown New Zealand Golf equity from $1.6m in 2013 to $2.7m in 2017 with further growth forecasted in 2018.

GROWING THE GAME HIGHLIGHTS

· After significant planning, we have developed a brand new approach to young golfers with our futures programme. Visit https://www.lovegolf.co.nz/futures for more details. · Expansion of the award winning love golf campaign – a programme that is changing the perception of golf and driving participation with initiatives such as she loves golf and love golf play – a promotional platform for clubs to target over 150,000 golfers. Visit https://www. lovegolf.co.nz/ for more details. · Launch of casual golfer registration programme that now has over 90,000 players registered and connected with our golf club network. · Development of flexiclub – online virtual club designed to engage the nomadic casual golfer and connect them with the golf club network. · Growth of the New Zealand Open

Championship in terms of co-sanctioned status, prizemoney and media coverage.

Visit www.nzopen.co.nz for details of the upcoming 100th staging of this very special event including the special news that Michael Campbell will be competing. · Establishment of an LPGA tour event for the NZ Women’s Open – sadly on hiatus until 2020. However, we are working hard to bring this event back for the golfing community of NZ. · Growth of The Charles Tour (prizemoney) in partnership with the PGA. · Growth of the media reach and exposure for golf; particularly across digital channels. · The golf tourism initiative developed with Tourism New Zealand and led by Ryan Brandeburg has grown annual returns to NZ from $145m in 2012 to over $400m. · In the last strategic period, New Zealand players have won international amateur events, PGA tour events, LPGA tour events, Major Championships, and an Olympic medal.

SUPPORTING THE GAME HIGHLIGHTS

· We are pleased to have now employed five dedicated club and sector support staff who work each day with grass roots clubs around the country. · Delivery of the national conference series where almost 300 people engage in learning sessions. · Recently, we launched mobile apps for our golf.co.nz MyGolf features and for tee bookings. These apps are proving very popular and will continue to be enhanced in the future. · We are big supporters of the GMA and in particular the BMI education programme with over 40 people now completed three years of education courses · Launch of the business course mentoring programme that connects tertiary students with New Zealand’s leading

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business personalities. · A golf sector plan for Auckland has been developed with support and engagement of a wide range of stakeholders in the Auckland region. · Reintroduced the national golf awards with a new focus on celebration success across the golf sector. · Over $1m saved for golf clubs through our lite club partnership. · Over $150,000 now annually being saved by golf clubs through our national group buying scheme. · Creation of over 150 case studies and resources for the use of the sector. · Further investment and support of PGA professionals. We now directly employ five professionals and contact many others to assist us in our work. This added to our 50 percent investment into the PGA coach live project, our investment of over $150,000 into The Charles Tour and the staging of the NZ Open Championships. We are truly committed to the PGA professional and the role they can play in growing our game. · Through significant commercial negotiations, we are delighted to now own 100 percent of DotGolf – a world class golf technology platform.

While there is much to look back on with pride, there remains a great deal of work to complete. In particular, we are yet to make significant inroads into reversing the club membership decline and we have much more work to do to assist golf clubs navigate the challenges before them. These are some of our top priorities for 2019.

To guide our future direction beyond our immediate priorities, we are currently completing the development of our new strategy for the period through until 2025. Our intention is to complete this work in the first quarter of 2019 and we will share the thinking with all our stakeholders in due course.

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15

GOLFCOACHING

ianhardie.net

How many birdie or par putts have you ever made with your golf bag?

By Ian Hardie NZPGA Professional

O

ne of the puzzling things about the game of golf and a fair amount of the golfers that play the game is the lack of thought that most golfers put into their golf equipment.

The golf equipment I’m referring to, are the shiny (mostly) metal things that actually allow the golfer to move their golf ball around the course that are commonly known as golf clubs.

It would be difficult to play the game without them wouldn’t it?

Yet, I’ve had countless occasions over the years, where I’ve been listening to a golfer tell me just how bad their golf is or how poor their scoring has been lately.

While they are standing in front of me with a very new looking golf bag (you can also add very expensive golf trundler in here as well) and a cheap, crappy or really old putter sticking out of it.

As soon as I see this, my question has always been.

How many birdie or par putts have you ever made with your golf bag?

You would be surprised to hear that most golfers, when asked that question (after the bit of time they need to work out what I’m asking) – answer.

‘None’.

Consider this for a minute – most standard par 72 courses are comprised of four par 3’s, four par 5’s and ten par 4’s and for ease of working out we are going to imagine that the golfer is going to hit every fairway in regulation, every green in regulation and two putt every green.

Let’s assume that maybe three of the par 4’s are short and or tight driving holes as well as one of the par 5’s.

So that means that the driver is going to be used for maybe ten tee shots.

And as it will most likely be a fairway wood or a hybrid of some sort that’s used on the other four tee shots, as well as maybe each of the second shots on the par 5’s.

We can assume that the total fairway wood shots in that round, will probably be eight.

There should be four iron shots (maybe a hybrid) played on the par 3’s as well as four wedge shots played into the par 5’s for the third shots.

The remaining ten shots would be played into the greens on the par 4’s with irons.

Which gives a total of eighteen iron (maybe a hybrid or two) shots.

Not forgetting, that in theory there are thirty six putts to be played.

Although to be honest, if you have a golfer hitting every fairway and every green in regulation – they are going to be pretty grumpy.

If they actually have 36 putts!

But back to the imagining, when looked at in terms of ‘par for the course’ the following percentages can be worked out.

The driver accounts for 13.9% The fairway woods are a further 11.1% The irons total usage is 25% And the putter 50% Although, these are the figures that relate to the course par.

In reality the figures for most of golfers look a bit different, as we are not taking into account.

Any missed fairways or greens.

Penalties, hazards, three putts.

And all the other countless things that can happen on the golf course.

But if we use the rule of thumb that I traditionally have, which is that putting is about 40% of a golfers score.

In my mind it makes the purchase and cost of your putter, considerably more important than the golf bag (or trundler) that you use.

You might want to read that bit again by the way.

So, if 40% of your score is made with a putter and most golfers are aware that

there are differences between cheap putters and good putters.

Which I know because when I ask them the question at the top of this article, they all answer: ‘It’s just a cheap / crappy / old putter – I’m going to get a good putter one day’.

Why do they buy the new golf bag (or trundler) first?

Which does such special things as holding the golf clubs, storing golf balls and tees, holding a drink and a snack……………

Wouldn’t it make more sense to buy the good putter first?

An extremely important part of their set of golf clubs that has the potential to quickly reduce their golf score and handicap!

Which for almost all golfers, makes them enjoy golf more.

Seems a bit odd – doesn’t it?

Play well.

If that idea found you questioning a few things about your golf game and you are one of those golfers that are telling everyone you know, just how bad your golf is or how poor your scoring has been lately – you might want to check this out: https://ianhardie.net/practical-golf-psychology-workshop/

Ian Hardie is Golfer Pacific’s Golf Professional contributor. He is Club Professional at Omanu Golf Club in Mount Maunganui. Ian’s time is split between the pro shop at the club and helping people to improve, while enjoying their golf more as a result of his golf coaching. Over the past few years, in an effort to help as many golfers as he can, Ian has been sharing his common sense golf advice with golfers around the world through his website golfhabits.com. With over 500 articles to read, it’s a great resource for any golfer looking to improve their golf game.

Large seizure of counterfeit golf equipment in China T he United States golf manufacturers anti-counterfeiting working group has announced the largest single seizure in the past five years, confiscating more than 29,000 pieces of counterfeit golf equipment and supplies from a facility in Dongguan, a major industrial centre in China.

Seized in the raid were 592 finished clubs, 1623 semi-finished clubs, 6780 club heads, 3340 grips, 1990 headcovers and more than 15,000 pieces of stickers and marks that bear group members’ logos, including Titleist, PXG, Callaway, Taylormade, Ping, XXIO and Cleveland.

“As our largest single raid in more than a half decade, this seizure signifies two things,’’ said Sonia Lari, senior corporate counsel for Callaway.

16

“One, that we are committed to fighting counterfeiters and will do everything in our power to bring them to justice.

“And two, that the production of fake golf equipment is still a very serious issue that more golfers need to be aware of.

“Consumers need to understand that the risks of purchasing fake golf equipment goes beyond performance – they can even be dangerous to use. The only way for consumers to guarantee that they are not purchasing counterfeit products is to buy from an authorised retailer or reseller.”

The recent raid was carried out by local government law enforcement authorities and took place last October. The key locations of the counterfeits, including the shipping centre, the warehouse and the

assembling workshop, were raided simultaneously by more than 30 officers from Dongguan and Taixing public security bureau (PSB), with assistance from 12 investigators and other legal counsel.

Computer data, sales records, buyer lists and delivery notes including names and addresses were also found at the location and seized for further investigation. In total, five suspects are being held in custody for investigation.

Frankie Ho, global intellectual property counsel for PXG, said: “Just because this raid was completed does not mean this investigation is over. We will continue to work with local authorities, who are following up on leads generated from the raid that we hope will lead to additional prosecutions.

January 2019

“To continue to protect consumers against counterfeiters, all group members are working together with authorities to discover new ways to identify and shut down these illegal operations. While there are still counterfeiters producing fake golf products, they’re starting to find out that these practices are unacceptable and once found, we will ensure they are punished to the fullest extent of the law. We promise to continue to fight this on-going battle against fakes and to keep golf real.”

To help consumers learn more about counterfeit products and their inherent risks, The Golf Group posts relevant information on its website www.keepgolfreal.com, and on its new Facebook page.

WWW.GOLFERPACIFIC.CO.NZ

GOLFCOACHING

By Anthony Barkley NZPGA Professional

S

trange question I know but I can absolutely say that I have met so many players over the 15 years in the golf industry that think they know it all about golf. Golf attracts this attitude as it’s a very technical and complex game with loads of online and written information for people to reference.

I have had lessons at times where I felt like the students were trying to coach me as I couldn’t get a word in. Don’t get me wrong as I loved all lessons I did and I have a strong confidence that if anyone did what I told them, they would improve, but it made me laugh to myself sometimes.

I hate to say it but 90% of those that thought they knew everything were men.

I’m not sure if it was an ego thing but often men were not open to change. It may be due to men researching more but very rarely did females have the same attitude. It was similar in beginner classes where it was very easy to get ladies to attend but next to no men applied. I guess

Do you know it all? guys just want to do things themselves or maybe I should have added FREE beer to the classes (did think about this at one stage).

I think most don’t realise they are doing this but here is one sign: Your friend gets a lesson from a PGA professional but you decide it’s not what they should be working on. If this is you, you need to keep quiet and let them work on the aspects the coach has prescribed otherwise the player will get totally confused.

I see this example often from club members when they play with someone who has recently had a golf lesson or desperately needs one. I actually think its human nature to try and help someone so most do. The issue is that people prescribe something they have seen on utube or something that has worked for them. They see an over the top move so they say to swing out rather than across.

Makes sense right but the issue is that for every golf action there is usually a fundamental at fault.

Inconsistent strike and grip moves in hand=Grip issue Over the top move=a number of issues could be in play here. Bad posture, strong grip, no lower body rotation (Pivot) and inefficient weight transfer are a few.

Fat shots= ball position, irregular maintenance of posture through the swing motion, swaying off the ball etc Ball goes right= alignment (sometimes it’s just that simple) I had one lesson once that kept hitting these massive right shots. Not a slice but a straight right shot. I used video for every lesson then and I videoed him. I checked with him our desired target and again a straight right shot. I showed him the video and he was aiming almost 45 degrees right of target and had no idea.

Hence what we worked on that day and

future lessons.

Some club golfers understand the process involved in making a change but many don’t. A PGA professional should be able to trace the issue back to the main fault. Fix the big issues first to fix it proper is always how I approached it.

So the pro will have a plan of attack which they may or may not talk to the client about. The issue is when someone else knows more and undermines the professional’s plans. The client then potentially loses confidence in what was taught and a downward spiral begins.

Always remember that a NZPGA professional has spent years learning the golf swing. They understand the faults and the fixes. You must also understand we have general to high knowledge of the body and the issues affecting the golf swing.

So try not to coach too much. Leave it to the experts and support anyone getting lessons. If you are concerned talk to the pro who is coaching your friend to understand what they are trying to achieve.

Don’t be a heckler, be a supporter.

Anthony Barkley is Golfer Pacific’s Golf professional contributor. He was formerly head professional at Rotorua Golf Club. “Ant is Golfer Pacific ‘s Coaching reviewer at large.

$995

WWW.GOLFERPACIFIC.CO.NZ

January 2019

17

Challenge yourself on the West Coast GOLF EVENT

The West Coast has a long golfing history and is proud to offer The West Coast Golf Challenge, a great experience for both local golfers and friends from ‘away’ – which is every

Photo: westcoastgolfchallenge.com

part of the world that is not on ‘The Coast’.

March 5th - March 8th 2019, will be the 7th edition of the West Coast Golf Challenge.

It is a great opportunity to combine four rounds of golf on four quite different courses with the chance to experience some of the most beautiful scenery in the country.

The four hosting clubs are Westport on their Kawatiri links at Carters’ Beach, Reefton on their Glenburnie course, Hokitika on their links course at Mahinapua, and Greymouth on their course at Kaiata.

All of the courses will offer different challenges, from the links courses of Hokitika and Westport to the parklands layouts of Reefton and Greymouth, and all will be well prepared and presented. Good hospitality is guaranteed. This is the West Coast after all!

Visitors are encouraged to take time either before, during or after the tournament to visit picturesque landmarks such as Denniston, Cape Foulwind, Charleston, Punakaiki, Oceana Gold mine, Lake Brunner, Brunner Mine, Shantytown, Lake Kaniere, Hokitika Gorge or The Glaciers and all of the beauty that lies between and beyond.

The chance should also be taken to be impressed by and get your own examples of the wonderful art and crafts that the West Coast prides itself on.

A good variety of accommodationand restaurants are available in all of the towns and visitors can choose to relocate for the next day’s play, which the schedule readily allows for, or make any of the towns their base for the duration of the tournament. The courses will be played in the following order, Westport, Reefton, Hokitika and finally Greymouth. Tournament organisers are confident that visitors and locals alike will be impressed with the $14000-plus value prize list. The tournament will be a stableford in three divisions, one for women and two for the men. With fields over 100 in the last two years we expect the limit of 120 players to be reached fairly quickly so enter early to avoid disappointment.

To express interest and receive an information pack, or visit the tournament website at http:// westcoastgolfchallenge.com for more informationand an entry form.

Send your entries to Brian Hampton at brian.hampy@outlook.com or post entry and cheque payment to West Coast Golf Challenge C/o Brian Hampton, 15 Main Street, Reefton 7830. Entry is confirmed on payment.

WEST COAST GOLF CHALLENGE 5TH, 6TH, 7TH, AND 8TH OF MARCH 2019 2 MEN‘S AND 1 LADIES‘ GRADE. STABLEFORD WITH A DAILY GROSS IN EACH GRADE PLAYING ORDER

WESTPORT GC, REEFTON GC, HOKITIKA GC, GREYMOUTH GC. $11,500 + IN PRIZES. DAILY AND OVERALL PRIZES

$200 ENTRY, TOURNAMENT SHIRTS $60 ORDER WITH ENTRY ENTRIES CLOSING ON THE 20TH OF FEBRUARY, 2019.

HANDICAP LIMIT TO 36 MEN AND LADIES FIRST 120 PAID ENTRIES SCORE A HOLE - IN - ONE AND GET FREE ENTRY INTO NEXT YEARS TOURNAMENT!

GET YOUR ENTRY IN NOW

FOR AN ENTRY FORM TO BE EMAILED TO YOU, EMAIL: MANAGER; (BRIAN.HAMPY@OUTLOOK.COM) OR VIEW WEBSITE AND PRINT OFF, HTTP://WESTCOASTGOLFCHALLENGE.COM

18

January 2019

WWW.GOLFERPACIFIC.CO.NZ

through, enjoy our legendary hospitality and join us during our weekend club days, or if you prefer, simply play at a time

T

he Greymouth Golf Club is located on Golf Links Road approximately 6km east of Greymouth town centre.

The course is acknowledged as having the best manicured fairways of the 18 hole courses on the West Coast, and while not long at about 5600 metres it provides an interesting test of golf.

Most of the Club’s major tournaments are played in the period from January to March, starting with the New Year’s Day tournament, followed by the Westland Classic in mid February, and as one leg of the West Coast four course challenge in early March.

Hole No 8 is the club’s signature hole. While not long, the 329 metre par 4 dog-leg left has an out-of -bounds on the left. There are also two strategically positioned mature kahikatea to manoeuvre past in the fairway. Sir Bob Charles has described this hole as one of his top 18 holes of golf in New Zealand.

Greymouth’s Kaiata links course really is a gem in the crown of local sporting facilities in Greymouth.

Green fees are a competitive $25 per round.

HOKITIKA GOLF CLUB

P

lay on one of New Zealand’s few true links courses at Hokitika on the West Coast of the South Island. Just 3 minutes south of Hokitika, (first turn right over the Hokitika River bridge), Mahinapua Links is the only golf course in New Zealand with outstanding views of Aoraki/Mount Cook, Mt Tasman and the majestic Southern Alps.

If you are staying in Hokitika, or just passing

to suit yourself.

The links are open from dawn to dusk, 365 days a year and bookings are not required. Greens fees on this unique links are a modest $25 for all players except students under 18 for which the green fee is $5. If you have not come prepared, hire clubs are available from Heritage Highway Motels (ph 03755 8098) right next to the northern approach to the Hokitika River bridge.

Enjoy spectacular views of the Southern Alps and Tasman Sea on a delightful links course set in the heart of scenic Westland. Contact the Hokitika Golf Club on 03 755 8549.

T

Play the picturesque, well-presented 18 hole course situated just 5 kms out of Greymouth.

VISITORS VERY WELCOME!

Green fees: $25 for 18 holes (or $15 for 9 holes) Hire clubs available: $10 (with trundler) Golf cart available for hire: $20 (subject to availability)

www.greymouthgolf.com

For more information phone 03 7328575 (clubhouse) or 0273100500 (Murray Rennie) • Email reeftongolf@gmail.com Reefton Golf Course • 74 Anderson Road, Reefton

Golf Link Road, GREYMOUTH, Buller/Westland Phone(s): +64 (03) 768 5332 • Fax: +64 (03) 768 7504

WESTPORT

golf club

• Play on one of New Zealand’s few true links courses

WWW.GOLFERPACIFIC.CO.NZ

T

he Westport Golf Club – is a beautiful seaside “links with trees” course of some 5600 metres.

Near the village of Carters Beach some 4km only from Westport, this 18 hole gem is a pitching wedge, maybe 9 iron from the Tasman Sea.All the while surrounded by the Paparoa Mountain Range and National Park. An overview of the course can be viewed at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yIWt7SQ7J_0&feature=youtu.be Slick and firm greens await visitors who can join club day matches – Tuesday vets (no restriction on age), Thursday, Saturday or Sunday. Green fees are only $30 and group discount by arrangement. All club day matches tee off at 11.30am, followed by hospitality hour.

For further information please email our Secretary at joyboy6@ hotmail.com.

he club began playing on this course, the Glenburnie course, in 1960, having been previously sited at Waitahu and prior to that, in the centre of the Reefton Race Course. The course has twelve holes, with holes 1-6 also being holes 13-18, although with different tees. Course is a par 72 and 5511 meters. Green fee players and visitors most welcome to play and enjoy the views.

Green fees are set at $20/day. Club days are Sundays.

The course is

A twelve hole par 72 course (yardage 5,511m). Easy walking with tree lined fairways and creeks featuring on 6 holes.

Fairways and greens well grassed. The course is beautifully set amoung the hills and is sheltered from strong winds. The club house is open Sunday during club days with snacks and bar service. Changing and shower facilities. Green fees from $20

• Green Fees from $25

WESTPORT GOLF CLUB

REEFTON GOLF CLUB

Reefton Golf Course

• Just 3 minutes south of Hokitika

open all day, every day, with the greens mown twice weekly. Although there is a small club membership of 40 the high standard of the course is completely achieved through voluntary contributions of time.

We have two main tournaments each year, the first at Queen’s Birthday weekend and the second being the Inangahua open which is held in November each year and over 2 days, each of 18 holes. Club members are proud to be part of the West Coast Golf challenge.

Golf Course is set on the banks of the Inangahua River and is the centre for farming, gold, coal and forestry. The town of Reefton has a population of about 1000 people, with some very good accommodation in hotels and motels. Any more info on Reefton golf please contact the club on 03 7328 575 (clubhouse) or 0273100500 Murray Rennie); or email reeftongolf@ gmail.com as clubhouse is only manned on Sundays.

GOLF EVENT

GREYMOUTH GOLF CLUB

Situated at Carters beach 7km’s south of Westport Playable all year round due to its sand base and provides a stern yet enjoyable test for golfers of all abilities

Hokitika GolF Club

Golf link Road RD 3 Hokitika, buller/Westland

Ph +64 (03) 755 8549 www.hokitika.org

A links course of 5617m for the Men and 5039m for the Ladies A warm welcome awaits you. Green Fees from $25

Marine Parade WESTPORT, Buller/Westland +64 (03) 789 8132

January 2019

19

PING introduces Sigma 2 putters

W

ith a focus on a softer feel and lively response through multi-layer face technology, and a newly designed adjustable-length shaft, PING today introduced the Sigma 2 putter series. Available in 10 options, including the new, highly stable Fetch model that is designed with a golf-ball-pickup feature, the new putters are available for pre-order beginning today at authorized PING golf shops around the world.

“The Sigma 2 putters are engineered to bring a new level of performance and excitement to our putter line,” said John K. Solheim, PING President. “As we do with every product, we combined our extensive technical knowledge gathered over our nearly 60-year history with the needs of the everyday golfer. In the Sigma 2, along with the new face design that’s both very soft and responsive, this approach includes providing golfers the ability to customize their shaft length by introducing a simple and intuitive adjustable-shaft-length technology that is a standard feature of every putter in the line. Our research indicates 8 out of 10 golfers are playing the wronglength putters and losing strokes as a result. That’s a staggering statistic to us and one we’ve made easy for golfers to solve with the Sigma 2. Golfers will see significant improvement in their putting consistency if they use a putter length customized to their game.”

DUAL-DUROMETER FACE

The soft, responsive face in the Sigma 2 putters is the result of an innovative dual-durometer PEBAX face material.

The softer front layer ensures the precision necessary for shorter, delicate mustmakes. The firmer back layer offers the solid feedback and distance control required for holing longer-range putts and improving overall consistency. Touch and pace are further improved with PING’s patented TR face pattern, which varies in depth and pitch to speed up off-center impacts for consistent ball speeds.

“Feel is difficult to quantify as there are a lot of opinions and preferences about how a putter should feel,” said Solheim. “The Sigma 2 has a very soft feel with a lively response, similar to a solid-face putter. It is designed for the golfer who prefers a putter on the softer side of the spectrum but with the response of a firm face, including more consistency on longer putts. By combining the two hardnesses of the PEBAX material and utilizing our TR face pattern, we’re providing a feel preference that appeals to a large segment of golfers while delivering the consistency golfers need to improve their ‘strokes gained: putting’ results.”

USGA-CONFORMING, ADJUSTABLE-LENGTH SHAFT

The adjustable-length shaft is lightweight, easy to use and sleekly concealed beneath the grip, allowing golfers to customize length between 32” and 36” to fit their stroke and posture. The process is quick and intuitive through the use of an adjustment tool that inserts into the top of the grip. One full turn causes approximately a ¼” adjustment up or down, and the grip remains perfectly aligned during the adjustment process.

20

“The adjustable shaft is just a really cool technology,” said Solheim. “Our engineers took a very complex technical challenge and simplified it for the benefit of golfers.

It allows you to experiment with various lengths and ultimately self-fit yourself.

You’re no longer limited to a specific length measurement. You simply adjust it until you’re comfortable, ideally with your eyes directly over the ball. We call it ‘invisible’ technology but once you customize it to your length, the results will be very clear on your scorecard.”

PING Pistol Grip Options Three proprietary PING grip designs allow golfers to dial in their optimal fit and feel. Listed from smallest to largest diameter: The PP60 is midsize and lightweight, designed to fit the contours of the hands with flats on the top and sides. Slightly heavier, the PP61 has an exaggerated pistol shape and is inspired by the popular PP58 grip. The PP62, while still lightweight, has a larger, more rounded shape to promote quieter hands.

PUTTER MODEL DESCRIPTIONS ANSER

The Anser is the winningest model in PGA Tour history, and its newest iteration has the traditional heel-toe ballasts that boost MOI, plus pleasing contours, a clean top rail and simple alignment line. The blade design and medium head weight make this putter proficient from any distance. The mid-hang balance targets players with a moderate rotation in their stroke, and thus fits a large percentage of golfers.

• Putter Type: Blade • Finish: Platinum or Stealth • Adjustable-Length Shaft: 32” to 36” range • Head Weight: 350g • Stroke Type: Slight Arc • Lie Angle: 20° ±4° • Loft: 3° ±2°

ZB 2

The ZB with a modern twist. The deeper center cavity and heel-toe weighting increase moment of inertia by more than 25% in this new model and make it as forgiving as an Anser. The heel-shafted weighting is engineered to fit players with more rotation in their stroke and those who have a pull tendency. This putter’s blade design and medium head weight provide versatility from anywhere on the green.

• Putter Type: Blade • Finish: Platinum • Adjustable-Length Shaft: 32” to 36” range • Head Weight: 350g • Stroke Type: Strong Arc • Lie Angle: 20° ±4° • Loft: 3° ±2°

ARNA

Inspired by the timeless design of the Anser, this mid-mallet model features a flowstyle hosel that complements the head’s soft arc shape and compact profile. The 360-gram head weight ensures stability on shorter putts while offering distance control on lag putts. The mid-hang balance fits golfers with a moderate rotation in their stroke.

• Putter Type: Mid-Mallet • Finish: Stealth • Adjustable-Length Shaft: 32” to 36” range • Head Weight: 360g • Stroke Type: Slight Arc • Lie Angle: 20° ±4° • Loft: 3° ±2°

KUSHIN C

This center-shafted model with added emphasis to the toe and heel ballasts will appeal to golfers drawn to the visual symmetry and stability of a face-balanced design. Prominent ball-width alignment features and micro-lines on the center cavity allow for easy alignment. The 360-gram weight and center-shaft design keep the head very stable on short putts in particular. The face-balanced design is optimized for players with very little rotation in their stroke or a push tendency.

• Putter Type: Mid-Mallet • Finish: Platinum • Adjustable-Length Shaft: 32” to 36” range • Head Weight: 360g • Stroke Type: Straight • Lie Angle: 20° ±4° • Loft: 3° ±2°

FETCH

A distinctive golf-ball-size center hole in this new design allows you to pick up the ball or remove it from the cup with the putter head and not have to bend down. This circular shape allows for efficient perimeter weighting, creating an extremely high MOI for a putter its size. Its 365-gram head is extremely stable on shorter putts. The face-balanced design works well with players who have little rotation in their stroke or a tendency to push putts.

• Putter Type: Mallet • Finish: Platinum • Adjustable-Length Shaft: 32” to 36” range • Head Weight: 365g • Stroke Type: Straight • Lie Angle: 20° ±2° • Loft: 3° ±2° • Tyne Boasts a PGA Tour-winning design, back by popular demand for its stability and ease of alignment. New micro-lines visible from address provide added texture and

January 2019

W H AT ’ S N E W

a contrast that amplifies the ball-framing and parallel alignment. The 365-gram head stays extremely stable on short putts and delivers ample feel for longer attempts.

The Tyne can be custom built as face-balanced or mid-hang to be optimized for straight or slight-arc stroke types.

• Putter Type: Mallet • Finish: Stealth • Adjustable-Length Shaft: 32” to 36” range • Head Weight: 365g • Stroke Types: Straight, Slight Arc • Lie Angle: 20° ±2° • Loft: 3° ±2°

TYNE 4

The stability and ease of alignment of the original Tyne are re-created in this heel-shafted version. The heavier 370-gram head is optimized for a smoother stroke tempo and designed to improve consistency, especially on shorter putts. The short hosel offers a distinctive – and popular – look at address, and the heel-shafted balance is particularly effective for golfers with more rotation in their stroke or a pull tendency.

• Putter Type: Mallet • Finish: Platinum • Adjustable-Length Shaft: 32” to 36” range • Head Weight: 370g • Stroke Type: Strong Arc • Lie Angle: 20° ±4° • Loft: 3° ±2°

WOLVERINE H

Its angular shape combines with ballshape geometries and a long alignment line to simplify aiming for improved accuracy. To promote consistency, the heavier 370-gram mallet head provides a very high moment of inertia for extreme forgiveness, especially on shorter putts. The mid-hang balance ensures better all-round performance for a wide range of golfers.

• Putter Type: Mallet • Finish: Stealth • Adjustable-Length Shaft: 32” to 36” range • Head Weight: 370g • Stroke Type: Slight Arc • Lie Angle: 20° ±4° • Loft: 3° ±2°

VALOR

A new model, this high-MOI mallet features a uniquely designed heel-toe ballast profile that contributes to its incredible stability and ease of aiming, with help from a long, contrasting alignment line. On shorter putts in particular, the added stability of the heavier 365-gram design offers a big performance advantage. This putter can be custom-built as either a face-balanced or mid-hang design to be optimized for golfers with almost any stroke type.

• Putter Type: Mallet • Finish: Stealth • Adjustable-Length Shaft: 32” to 36” range • Head Weight: 365g • Stroke Types: Straight, Slight Arc • Lie Angle: 20° ±2° • Loft: 3° ±2° »» Get custom fit today. For your nearest PING stockist contact Sports Netwwork Ltd. Ph: 0508 776 786

WWW.GOLFERPACIFIC.CO.NZ

Our Favourite Courses, Country and Coastal Gems MARAENUI GOLF CLUB NAPIER, HAWKES BAY

Phone: +64 6 835 8273 Website: www.maraenuigolf.co.nz Email: maraenui@golf.co.nz

COURSE LENGTHS White: 5705 Mtrs Par 72 Blue : 6125 Mtrs Par 72 Yellow: 5289 Mtrs Par 74

Advertising Feature

COURSE INFORMATION

Year Opened: 1932 Green Fees: $40 (Affilliate 18H), $50 (Non-Affilliate 18H) Electric Cart Hire: 18 Holes $40 Visitors.

Trundler Hire: $5 Set of Clubs and Trundler: $25 Accommodation: The club motel sponsor is Edgewater Motor Lodge Special Features: Green fee players always welcome – only 5 minutes’ drive from Napier City and 15 minutes from Hastings.

We have a full bar with friendly staff. Club owned and operated Greenside Café has a fine selection of food to have with your drinks after your round.

How to get there: Driving from Auckland to Napier 5 hours 30 mins; Driving from Wellington to Napier 3 hours 45 mins; Fly from Auckland to Hawkes Bay 1 Hour; Fly from Wellington to Hawkes Bay 1 Hour.

INFORMATION OHOPE INTERNATIONAL COURSE Green Fees: 18 Holes: $40 NZ Golf Affiliated,

GOLF CLUB BAY OF PLENTY

Phone: +64 7-312 4486 Email: ohope@golf.co.nz Website: www.ohopegolf.co.nz

COURSE LENGTHS Blue: 5686m Par 71 White: 5408m Par 71 Yellow: 4961m Par 71

$45 Non-Affiliated per round. Discounts for larger groups by arrangements with the Club Secretary/Manager.

10 Holes: $20 NZ Golf Affiliated, Non-Affiliated $25.

Electric Cart: $25 (10 Holes); $35 (18 Holes) Trundler: $5 per Round Club Hire: Quality Full Sets $25; Social Sets $10 (Including Trundler) Clubhouse: Available for Weddings, Birthdays & Corporate Functions.

How to get there: from Whakatane Airport: 40 minutes by car. From Tauranga 1 Hour 15 mins by car, From Rotorua 1 hour 15 mins by car.

Paul Gordon APSNZ

WAIPU GOLF CLUB BREAM BAY

Phone: +64 9 4320259 Website: www.waipugolf club.org.nz Email: Waipu@golf.co.nz

COURSE LENGTHS Black: 6,120 metres Blue: 5,890 metres White: 5,463 metres Yellow: 5,186 metres

COURSE INFORMATION

Year Club Established: 1934 Present Course Opened: 6th June 1966 Course Architect: H G Babbage, Modified 2014 A Glasgow Green Fees: $40 - $55 (concessions available for groups etc) Electric Cart Hire: $35 Push Trundler Hire: $5 Club Hire:$15 Accommodation: Local accommodation available for all budgets (see website for details) Special Features: Clubhouse, Golf Shop, Bar & Café open 7 days a week. Covered practice area, amazing panoramic views, walking access to long white sandy beach, visitors always welcome.

How to get there: Adjacent to State Highway #1 – 3229 SH1 – between Waipu and Ruakaka turnoffs and only 125 km north of Auckland CBD

GOLF TRAILS

NEWS FROM AROUND THE REGIONS

Pak’n’Save Stacey Rolton.

Winners of the Stableford Competition were: First for the men: Travis Tahana (from Kaitaia) with 45 points. First for the ladies: Pam Weber with 45 points.

Second for the men: Jeff Parker with 45 points. Second for the ladies: Bernadette Dobson with 44 points.

A great day all round which raised over $5,000 for the club.

This was followed with a game of Ambrose won by Jeff Parker, Ian Hills and Rob Jerome.

A seriously good pot-luck dinner followed with music provided by Varlo’s daughter Te, and then prizegiving. People carrying away most silver cups were Denise Pilbrow and Dave Nicholas. Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves and if we only had about 30% attendance, we can only hope that this will grow with the years. Some of the winners who received their prizes on the day are seen here.

Others who were not there on the night should check with John or Mary for their prizes.

NORTH HARBOUR

NORTHLAND

REDWOOD PARK GOLF CLUB CLOSING DAY 2018

EXTRACTS FROM WHANGAROA GOLF CLUB’S MONTHLY NEWSLETTER

Christmas Cheer at Whangaroa, with a field of 130, ran smoothly starting with a champagne breakfast followed by golf, which proved to be a bit slow for some and a good pace for others. This was followed by a delicious Christmas lunch of ham and salads prepared and cooked by our ladies in the kitchen led by Dianne Collins. Many thanks to all those ladies who played early and then did kitchen duties.

Our batten/bucket raffle was a great success, run by Brotty and his crew thanks to all members who generously donated the filled buckets. This was

then followed by prize-giving, with a table groaning with hams and Christmas goodies provided by our new sponsor,

For the first time this year it was suggested by Jeff Parker that we should have proper celebration of our achievements throughout the year with a special dinner to be combined with the AGM and prizegiving.

On a beautiful day that promised much for a lovely summer, we held our AGM which was well-attended and uncontentious, the good work of the committee being shown in the balance sheet of the accounts. The new committee was elected and promise to continue the good work.

“TEE FOR TWO” GOLF PACKAGE

THE GOLF

NORTHERN

Play Kauri Cliffs + accommodation at Stone Store Lodge ü TWO golfers enjoy One Round of Golf each (Green Fees) at Kauri Cliffs Designed by David Harman **one of the top 100 courses in the world** www.kauricliffs.com ü TWO nights accommodation in a Deluxe Suite Dble/Twin suite with Inlet views, at Stone Store Lodge Kerikeri **201 Kerikeri Road** ü TWO for TEA (or coffee) each morning with continental or full breakfast at Stone Store Lodge ü TWO guests enjoy a delicious glass of wine with light snacks on night of arrival.

NZ$945 for TWO *

*Must be NZ residents. International Visitors ADD $512

150 players from Redwood Park Golf Club enjoyed the fun of playing awesome 6’s on closing day on Saturday 15th December.

Pay & Pl ay

Outs ide these dates please look at ou r webs ite

TERMS & CONDITIONS: Above pricing valid from 15th December 2018 - 31st March 2019 for TWO (Affiliated NZ Players) • NON Golfer Substitute: A selection from Health-Herbal-body treatments • No refund for unused services • Rain check available due weather within validity • Based on two persons - share Twin or Double Occupancy • Air and land transportation not included • Prices are GST inclusive • Golf carts not included

LODGE IS ALSO AVAILABLE FOR EXCLUSIVE USE!

Get your Northern Passport! With an annual supscription of $350, receive discounted green fees, and a one free round of golf at each of the participating clubs.

Min. 2 nights. Use our fully equipped kitchen, self-catering. Lodge serviced daily.

Priced on six NZ golfers/two nights/golf included $2790.00 until 23/4/2019.

If you have more than 6 golfers or are international golfers please enquire.

Take advantage of exclusive green fee rates at participating clubs, pay only $20 for 18 ($12 for 9) holes all year round.

On top of all this, receive an official New Zealand Golf Handicap!

Contact your local participating club for more info and to sign up.

$350

ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION

FREE Rounds at

participating clubs: HELENSVILLE MANGAWHAI NORTHLAND WARKWORTH WHANGAPARAOA WHANGARAREI

OFFICIAL New Zealand Golf Handicap

For reservations contact richard@stonestorelodge.co.nz www.stonestorelodge.co.nz | Ph (09) 407-6693

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WHANGAPARAOA GOLF CLUB

To get your Passport Phone 0800 420 545 • Helensville@golf.co.nz• www.helensvillegolf.co.nz January 2019

WWW.GOLFERPACIFIC.CO.NZ

wishes Mark well for a great future.

A special mention also to former Harbour Rep player, Chang Gi Lee, who also qualified from the Q School. Well played Chang Gi and best of luck in 2019.

OUR YOUNG GIRLS DO HARBOUR PROUD

MARK HUTSON TURNS PRO

After many years as a key representative player for Harbour Golf, Mark Hutson from Muriwai GC is signing his professional forms. His 9th place finish at the recent Australasian Q School means he will have many guaranteed starts on the 2019 Tour. Everyone at Harbour Golf

Having already won the Junior Interprovincial title in October, our team headed to Waitikiri GC in Christchurch full of hope for the challenge ahead. Four of that winning junior team were selected for the Toro Women’s team alongside current Harbour No.1 and 2, Silvia Brunotti and Anna An. It was the youngest women’s team fielded by any Association in the history of the event, with an average team member age of just 13.8 years old.

For the second year running, it ended in the heartbreak of losing a semi-final to Canterbury. Having won the first 5 games of the week, we were very narrowly beaten by hot favourites Auckland in the last pool match but progressed to the semi-finals. Three of our matches in the semi-final came down to the last hole. Unfortunately, we lost one and halved the other

two, so were edged by three points to two. The pool play performance meant we finished third overall, a stunning result for the young girls, but it could easily have fallen our way with a couple of extra putts dropping.

Despite their obvious disappointment, these girls showed maturity and sportsmanship by offering caddying services to the Auckland girls in the final, which Auckland deservedly won following dominant performances all week.

The week would not have been possible without the support of Chanelle Probett, Helen Chegwin and Robyn Pardy.

Looking after such a young team means wearing multiple hats during the week (carers, caddies and cooks), to ensure the girls were able to concentrate on the golf. Huge thanks to Chanelle, Helen and Robyn for giving up their time to spend the week with the girls.

Pictured are Chanelle Probett (Manager), Silvia Brunotti, Yeonsoo Son, Jessica Green, Anna An, Eunseo Choi, Danika Lee

NORTH HARBOUR GOLF TOUR

After 9 rounds over the course of 10

NORTH HARBOUR NOTICEBOARD 1 Jan 31 Jan

Muriwai

9 411 8454

The Links course out west. All welcome

1 Jan 31 Jan

Helensville

(09)4205454

Midweek Open Great Prize table

1 Jan 31 Jan

Omaha Beach

(09)4227551

Hidden Treasure by the Sea, less than 1 hour Nth of AKLD

1 Jan 31 Jan

Waitakere

(09)810 9399

$15.00 a week for a full 7 days a week membership

6-Dec

South Head

09 420 2838

Xmas Cheer Teams Day W

25 Jan 26 Jan

Redwood Park

09-8338253

Redwood Park Masters

Jan-27

Gulf Harbour

09-428-1380

27 Sun JB/JG Lydia Ko Age Group Champs Gulf Harbour

months in 2018, the North Harbour Tour has its Champions.

Congratulations to Men’s winner, Mal Brennan from South Head GC. Mal’s very consistent play over the year was rewarded with a first prize Premium Tour Cart Bag from TaylorMade and a $100 bar tab for Deep Creek Brews and Eats in Browns Bay. The same prizes were won by our 2018 Women’s winner, Amelia Wong of North Shore GC. Well played, Amelia.

Prizes with a retail value of $5,200 were

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23

awarded over the course of the 9 rounds and the overall prizes.

Huge thanks to our sponsors TaylorMade and Deep Creek Brewing Company, who supplied packs of craft beer for all our 36 monthly prize winners.

We’re going again in 2019 and entries are now open at: www.harbourgolf. co.nz/north-harbour-golf-tour.html We are confident that any of the 100 people who took part in 2018 will say it’s a great way to play many courses in our region for only $18 per round.

The Tour joining fee is $50 for members of a club affiliated to North Golf (i.e.

Harbour or Northland clubs), or $75 for anyone else with an official NZ Golf handicap.

Your round can be played at any time in the calendar month assigned to each host club (subject to tee time availability).

Full details and conditions of competition are on the website.

OUR NEW HARBOUR LEADERS

At the Annual General Meeting on 11th December, we said farewell to our current Presidents Tony Naidu and Robyn Pardy.

Their great work at Harbour Golf over the past three years was recognised in a speech of thanks from Operations Manager, Kevin Tregunno. Tony will be continue to be a part of our Association in his new role as Chairman of the North Golf Executive.

Those present at the meeting then welcomed the following people who were elected unopposed.

Harbour Golf Women’s President Annette Gowling – Omaha Beach GC Harbour Golf Women’s Vice President Vicki Lambert – Wainui GC Harbour Golf Men’s President James Kirkham – Muriwai GC Harbour Golf Men’s Vice President Graeme Storey – North Shore GC These people will lead the Delegates Committees and Match Committees responsible for all the golf decisions at Harbour Golf (i.e. pennants, representative team golf, junior golf etc.)

With North Golf now in operation, the 7 members of the North Golf Executive are responsible for the business and financial decisions of Harbour Golf and Golf Northland, which continue as brands under the North Golf Association with sepa-

Ngaruawahia GOLF CLUB 5925 GREAT SOUTH RD NGARUAWAHIA, HAMILTON, WAIKATO

An easy walking golf course of a challenging length with most fairways bunkered, defined rough and excellent greens for which the course is renowned.

The course is situated 10 minutes North of Hamilton and 1 hour south of Auckland on State Highway 1.

rate representative teams on the national stage.

Congratulations to our new Presidents and Vice Presidents and thank you all for stepping up.

MEETING A LEGEND

Harbour’s Representative players were excited to be invited to the recent ANNIKA Invitational at Royal Wellington GC. An amazing experience playing among many of Asia-Pacific’s best young talent. To cap it off, a chance to meet one of the best golfers ever to play the game, Annika Sorenstam. Here she is in the centre along with our reps from left to right, Anna An, Jessica Green, Silvia Brunotti, Yeonsoo Son, Eunseo Choi, Danika Lee, Amy Im and Subin Wui.

AUCKLAND CONNOR BAKER WINS CHAMPION OF CHAMPIONS

Connor Barker is the Champion golfer for 2018 having won the Open Champion of Champions tournament last month at his Home Club Remuera. He set up his win with a first round of one under 71 to lead the defending champion Josh Leitch (Maungakiekie) by 5 shots. Leitch came back at Barker and closed within one shot with nine holes to play. But Barker finished the stronger to win the title by two shots over Leitch.

Nigel Benton (Titirangi), with a stableford score of 68 points, won the Intermediate Champion of Champions title by three points from Oliver Foote (Remuera).

The Junior Champion of Champions was a close contest with Peter O’Brien (Maungakiekie) winning by one point from Pokaiwhenua Ngataki (Clarks Beach) and Benjamin Palmer (Royal Auckland and Grange). Ngataki was declared the runner up following a countback.

AUCKLAND NOTICEBOARD 1-31 Jan

Onewhero

09 2334038

Love Golf $50 introductory 3 rounds

1-31 Jan

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09 534 3818

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09 5364715

Stay and Play $280 for 2 people T+C's apply

1-31 Jan

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$1200 Full membership

1-31 Jan

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Stay and Play packages

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827 3967

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Jan 24

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827 3967

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Jan 25

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827 3967

Back Tee Challenge

Jan-31

Titirangi

827 3967

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Feb-07

Titirangi

827 3967

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Feb-14

Titirangi

827 3967

Twilight

The Royal Auckland and Grange team of Mark O’Malley, Mark Lewis and Benjamin Palmer won the Ron Lay Rosebowl teams event.

AUCKLAND WOMEN WIN 7 TIMES IN 8 YEARS

A very young Auckland team with an average age of 13.8 years won the Interprovincial title for the 7th time in 8 years. Played last month at the Watikiri Golf Club in Christchurch, they were the only unbeaten team at the tournament winning 35 out of a possible 40 games.

They had to overcome a spirited North Harbour team in the final round of round robin play before defeating Manawatu/ Wanganui in the semi-final and hosts Canterbury in the final.

Number 3 Miree June was named Player of the Tournament having gone through unbeaten with 7 wins and 1 half.

Auckland have now won 25 Women’s Interprovincials and with a team so young, the prospect of a few more is on the cards.

INAUGURAL WOMEN’S MASTERS STROKE PLAY OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

The Inaugural Women’s Masters Stroke play was held last month at the Akarana Golf Club. Results as per below: 18 hole Nett Winner Barbara Jepson Akarana 68 Winner of the Kaye Carroll Salver Runner up Wendy Shuttleworth Akara-

VISITING WELLINGTON? SHORT TERM MEMBERSHIPS AVAILABLE BY THE WEEK AT THE GOLF & BIRDLIFE SANCTUARY 20 Minutes from CBD Wellington, commuter railway station 50 metres from Club gates.

Pictured are winners Barbara Jepson (Akarana) – 18 hole Championship and Brigit Holford (RAGGC) – 36 hole Championship.

WAIKATO JELLY JOHNSON WINS THE HUNTLY VETS CHAMPIONSHIP IN SHOOT OUT!

Every month the best player is found based upon his or her average score for the month and wins a veterans golf shirt. Then at the end of the year all the winners are invited to play in a shoot out to find the annual Shootout Champion.

Nine accepted the invitation this year so the winner would be known after just eight holes, given that on each hole the player with the worst score, or the looser of a sudden death chip-off, drops out.

On the 1st hole, shootout rookie Tony Polkinghorne found himself quickly elim-

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na 68 3rd Sunny Park Titirangi 70 18 hole Stableford Winner Cilla Tsui Remuera 36 Runner up Ann Barltrop RAGGC 35 3rd Dale Harrison Redwood Park 34 4th Wendy Williams Remuera 34 5th Mandy Papich Waiuku 34 36 hole Gross Winner Brigit Holford RAGGC 150 Winner of the Brigit Holford Cup Runner up Sian Kelly Akarana 153 3rd Vaha Fapiano North Shore 156 36 hole Nett Winner Tracey McCarten St Andrews 140 Runner up Ingrid Jaegersma Akarana 142

For course availability book online or phone +64 7 575 5957 98 Matapihi Rd, Mt Maunganui

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January 2019

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WAIKATO NOTICEBOARD 9-Jan

Waikare (m)

07 884 9389

Waikato Veterans

14-Jan

Thames (m)

07 884 9389

Waikato Veterans

17-Jan

Te Awamutu (m)

07 884 9389

Waikato Veterans

21-25 Jan

Cambridge, Waikare, Pirongia, Ngaruawahia

Festival of Golf

inated after hitting out of bounds into the clubhouse. Then on the 2nd hole it was defending champion Danny Meanata, who lost a chip off with Tait and Handley to find himself out earlier than expected.

He was soon followed by John Shearer who got stuck in a bunker on the 3rd hole, before Graeme Tait departed on the 4th after loosing a chip off with Handley.

On the 5th there was a bad rain shower with strong winds that saw Bob McVeagh miss-hit a shot and then put his next over the back of the green, and he was gone.

With three holes to go it was Terry Broughton’s turn to be eliminated in a long chip off on the 6th from under the trees at the back of the green against Ken Johnson. Then at the 7th his mate Paul Heath’s tee shot ended just inside the road fence but not out of bounds! He had no back swing, and his shot only just made it onto the green. With a rather firm do or die putt he ended up three putting spy departed. This left two men standing, the in-form Keith Handley and the steady stalwart Ken (Jelly) Johnson. Then finally, on the eighth green and under the watchful eye of umpire Trevor Tapp, it was a humble Johnson who dropped a fifteen foot putt to win the championship title from a defeated but graceful Handley who settled for runner up.

2018 WOMEN’S CHAMPION OF CHAMPIONS

Champion of Champions for 2018 was held at Te Awamutu in wet trying conditions, with the course holding up well – which was played in late November.

Jill Morgan (Cambridge) was a deserving winner of the South Auckland Cup for best gross in the silver division with scores of 73 and 75 (148) with Zahraa Bester (Hamilton) second on 156 and Robyn Pellow (Ngaruawahia) third on 161. Kahu McCaskill (Okororie) took out the Siver nett from Karen Semmens (Morrinsville) and Maree Whiteman (Ngahinepouri).

The Bronze division was very close with Irene Straker (PioPio-Aria) finishing one shot ahead of Linley Wallace (Cambridge) and Sandra Hopson (Matamata).

Thora Young (Stewart Alexander) was the Bronze nett winner, again by a shot from Waikato Life Member, Peg Murphy (Kawhia) with Gay Pickett (Walton) in third place.

Liz Caskey (Riverside) won the gross stableford prize in the Bronze Runner Up competition from Tahuna’s Jill Hows.

Cambridge defended their title in the team’s event, the Gross Stableford Rosebowl, with 121 points. In 2017 the Cambridge team was the national winner of this event. This year’s team was Jill Morgan, Linley Wallace and Kay Brennan. The team from Walton – Chelsea Sharp, Gay Pickett and Kathryn Douglas were second with 111 points.

WAIKATO VETERANS NOVEMBER 2018 RESULTS: ROUND UP OF RECENT EVENTS

Pictured are the podium place-getters Paul Heath (3rd), Keith Handley (2nd), Sue Bowers (presenter of trophy), Ken Johnson (champion).

Thursday & Friday 1-2nd November saw Waihi host there Two day tournament – 63 starters Men’s Nett Winner was John Drent (Waihi) with 135 Net followed by Bob Pipe also (Waihi) with 137 Net Men’s Stableford Winner was Maurice

Joyce (Waihi) with 79pts, Tom Rowbotham (Waihi) 78pts, Errol Miller (Waihi) also 78pts, John Deverill (Waihi) 77pts.

Women’s Nett Winner was Raewyn Wright (Waihi) with 137 Net followed by Rae Brown (Waihi) with 143 Nett Women’s Stableford Winner was Kay Still (Waihi) 70pts, Edna Connolly (Waihi) 69pts, Rachel Yoo (Paeroa) 68pts, Nan Hoggard (Waihi) 64pts Cambridge on Monday 5th saw a field of 80 players – Yes you guessed it another Ross Brydon’s competition trial round (Last year had 51 entries) Gross Winner was Ross Browne (Riverside) 78 gross on a count back from Allen Sarjant (Waihi) also with 78 Gross Stableford Winner was Lauchie Phillips (Putaruru) with 42 pts from Carolyn Langhorn by lot from Cambridge also 42 pts then John Nesbit and Keven Hodgson both (Cambridge) both with 41 pts followed by Allen Sarjant (Waihi) and Lyall Keyte (Cambridge) both 40 pts, 5 players then had 39 pts Tirau Christmas held on Thursday 8th November saw a small field of 27 players Stableford Winner was Bill Macky (Tirau) with 42pts from Duncan MacGillivray (Cambridge) 41pts, Maurice Vosper (Matamata) 38 pts, Berine Gilmour (Te Kowhai) 38pts, Janice White (Tirau) 38pts, Ron Wilson (Tirau) 38pts, Gloria Osborne (Tirau) 37pts then 4 players had 36 pts Monday 12th saw Whangamata have their one dayer.

56 starters but played in terrible weather unfortunately for all.

Winner division 1 was Merv Michael (Whangamata) with 37 pts from Lee Hall (Thames) with 35 pts – Alan Sargant (Waihi) won the gross with 81 Winner division 2 was Rob Maurice (Te Aroha with 39 pts from Robin Hill (Hauraki) with 38 pts – Colin Anderson (Paeroa) won the Gross with 92.

Monday 19th saw the 14th Muddy River Teams event being played at Te Aroha A field of 35 teams (105 players) from across the region with a team from Pakaranga Winning team was G Hill, D Gore, B Austin (Te Aroha) with 49 pts from J Mohn, B Gilmour, B Cressy (Mixed clubs team) and R Maurice, G Johnston, M Dearnley (Te Aroha) both with 47 pts.

Raglan held a very successful day on Thursday 22nd November 74 Starters from at least 12 clubs – this

doubled as an interclub with neighboring clubs Ngahinepouri – Stewart Alexander and Pirongia which enabled them to achieve a great field well done Raglan Stableford Winner was Grant Clow (Pirongia) with 47pts from Dave Smith (Ngahinepouri) 42pts then 5 players shared with 40pts (Sorry did not record all names) Te Aroha Christmas Monday 26th November 62 starters – a little effected by adverse weather forecast but in actuality except for one small shower day was fine for all Run in 2 divisions with the Gross – Nett and Stableford winners all receiving a Ham as their prize Division one Gross winner was D Williams (Te Aroha) with 75 gross, the Nett Winner was R Baker (Paeroa) with 63 net, M Cotter (Paeroa) won the Stableford with 42 pts, G Hill (Te A),D Farquhar (Te A) & C Ho (Te A) all followed with 40pts Divison 2 Gross winner was M Armstrong (Te Aroha) with 86 Gross, G Johnston (Te A) was Nett winner with 62 nett and D Breckon (Okoroire) won the Stableford with 41pts followed by R Whitten (Te A) 41pts, M Newby (Thames) 40pts, T Hollister and B Levers both (Hauraki) with 39 pts

TARANAKI WAVERLEY, ARROW TOWN BIG HITS IN TOM DOAK’S CONFIDENTIAL GUIDE TO NZ GOLF COURSES

By Phil Hamilton

Waverley has superb terrain for golf.

Little-known Waverley and Arrowtown are the big winners in legendary architect Tom Doak’s latest guide to New Zealand golf courses.

The straight-talking American architect, who designed modern masterpieces Tara Iti, Cape Kidnappers and Pacific Dunes, has published an updated Confidential Guide to Golf Courses edition that covers Asia, Australia and New Zealand.

Arrowtown, along with Paraparaumu, was included in the gourmet’s choice of 18 courses he recommends and was highly rated by Doak and his three co-raters, who contribute to the guide to ensure Doak can’t be accused of favouring the courses he designed.

Co-author Darius Oliver singled out Ar-

30 MINUTES FROM HAMILTON • 40 MINUTES FROM TAURANGA • 90 MINUTES FROM AUCKLAND

This picturesque, well groomed 18 hole course is on flat easy walking land and is adjacent to the Tarawera River. Mountain views and the bird life add to the enjoyment for all players. The 6th, 15th and 18th holes, make the course a true test of a golfer’s skills. We are open all year round with no tee off times needed. Visitors are always welcome to join the club haggles. The course is only 40km east of Rotorua and situated at the south end of the Kawerau township.

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kaweraugolf@xtra.co.nz Cobham Dr, Kawerau 3127, New Zealand  07 323 7095

January 2019

25

BAY OF PLENTY NOTICEBOARD Jan 21-25

Bay Of Plenty Golf

07 5771214

5 Course Classic

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06 835 8273

Women’s 54 Hole Match Play & 36 Hole Stableford Open

TARANAKI NOTICEBOARD 14 Jan

67544771

Manukorihi

Manukorihi, Mixed Stableford, Anderson Trophy for both Men & ladies

19 Jan

62738250

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Patea GC Roger Rei Memorial Tournament

20 Jan

06 761 8070

Opunake

Multi Sponsors Tournament Opunake GC

24 Jan

06 272 8039

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Wanganui & District at Te Ngutu. Challenge Shield, Combined Stableford

27 Jan

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Taranaki Men's & Women's Strokeplay Championships

rowtown for it’s charm and quirkiness. “... There are certainly better courses in New Zealand but few, if any, that we would prefer to play on a regular basis.”

Waverley, a small country course in south Taranaki, found itself rated higher than many of the country’s high-profile resort courses.

“The terrain for golf is superb and holes like the par-5 opener running along the edge of high ground, the short par-4 12th with its tiny green in a valley, the wild back-to-back par-5s at 14 and 15, and the short 16th over a dip to a green tucked in between sharp dunes, are among the best golf to be found in New Zealand,” Doak wrote.

Dunedin’s Chisholm Park was the “most under-rated” course in New Zealand, while Southland’s Oreti Sands sneaked inside the top 10 despite closing earlier this year.

Cape Kidnappers topped the NZ rankings, thanks to a perfect 10 from one of his co-authors, ahead of Tara iti, north of Auckland, and Paraparaumu.

Kinloch, near Taupo, was described as Nicklaus’ “most visually stunning design”.

Royal Melbourne West is the top course in the region, followed by Tasmania’s Barnbougle Dunes, which Doak co-designed with Mike Clayton.

NZ Ranking 1. Cape Kidnappers 2. Tara Iti 3. Paraparaumu 4. Kauri Cliffs 5. Arrowtown 6. Titirangi 7. Jack’s Point 8. Kinloch 9. Oreti Sands 10. Waverley

MANAWATU WANGANUI MANAWATU /WANGANUI WOMEN’S TEAM CAP OFF GREAT YEAR FOR REPS

The Manawatu Wanganui Women’s Interprovincial team had their best finish in many years by making it through to the semi-finals in Christchurch last month. Although they were beaten in the semi-finals by the eventual winners

26

MANAWATU WANGANUI NOTICEBOARD 12-Jan

Eketahuna

06 375 8285

Bush Classic

13-Jan

Pahiatua

21-Jan

Palmerston North

(06) 351 0700

Wellington Anniversary Day Sun 27 Joe Kells Memorial Tournament

Bush Classic

27-Jan

Palmerston North

(06) 351 0700

Ladies Classic

Auckland, this definitely showed that our top girls are well capable of matching it with those other top teams. And with a few very young team members the team could well feature highly during the next couple of years. Huge congratulations to Tara Raj, Zhuoyi Hu, Brydie Hodge, Lisa Herbert, Lily Griffin and Casey Chettleburgh for their efforts on the course, and to Judy Seccombe and Lynne McDonald for their team management throughout the week.

The men’s team also featured throughout their week at Clearwater, but unfortunately had to settle for 5th place overall, after Wellington and Canterbury dominated their pool. Still they also showed that they were very capable of matching the top teams, and had a couple of matches gone the other way, they to could have contested the semi finals also. Well done to Tyler Wood, Sam Nichols, Liam Finlayson, Regan McConaghty, Greg Shaw and Reid Perry on the course, and to Boy Manunui for managing the team and supported during the week by up and coming young player Anthony Ilton-Maher.

The highlight of the rep year was winning the men’s Freyberg Masters Interprovincial in Taupo. The older fulla’s certainly showed that they are still a force at the representative level. Junior Tatana was the individual rep performer of the year, winning the individual player of the tournament award with 8 wins from 8 matches. As the joint winner of the Manawatu Wanganui OOM, he would have been selected for the Toro Interprovincial if it was not for an ongoing injury forcing him to have surgery following the Masters performance. We congratulate Junior Tatana, Tony Chettleburgh, Phil Hooper, Rick Harding, Ross Geary, Stu Gillespie and manager, Marty Field for their very impressive win for Manawatu Wanganui at the Freyberg Masters for 2018.

Our Junior Interprovincial team also had a very good performance in Cambridge this year, improving a lot from the previous couple of years. They eventually finished 7th, however the positives that came out of their performances was more important than the final placing.

Congratulations to Anthony Ilton-Maher, Bradley McSherry, Kaleb Idemaru, Ethan Dodds, Cameron Giddens, Ryan Rooney and Remy Early, along with Manager Dave Giddens, who was also supported by young Ethan Ward at that event this year.

Other highlights of the rep season included victory for the Shand Salver Junior team, big wins from the Women’s Judy Pearson Salver team against Hawkes Bay and the Womens Toro team in their preparation match for the Caroline Scott trophy against Taranaki.

We also sent a men’s and women’s team to the Wellington Strokeplay which

combines both and individual and district team competition. Our men’s team of Sam Nichols, Tyler Wood, Liam Finlayson and Regan McConaghty won the teams event, and Sam Nichols won the individual men’s competition with a very impressive 4 round total. Tyler Wood set a new course record 65 on the relatively new Boulcott’s Farm Heritage course layout.

ACCESSIBLE GOLF AT MORNINGTON

Individually throughout the year Tara Raj (pictured above) continues to impress both locally and nationally, and had her first really big win at the Harewood Open Charles Tour this year. Tyler Wood also had some impressive performances in some highly ranked events in 2018. Junior Tatana, Tyler Wood, Tara Raj and Zhuoyi Hu, all qualified for their matchplay stages in the NZ Amateur played at Wairakei in Taupo. Zhuoyi Hu got through to round 3 before being beaten by eventual winner Vivian Lu. WELLINGTON NOTICEBOARD 29-Jan

Judgeford

(04) 235 7633

Judgeford Summer Cups

Feb 24

Karori

(04) 476-7337

Karori Golf Club Open Day

WELLINGTON 2018 BEACH FM KAPITI OPEN

Andy Sherborne and Sue Green are the 2018 Beach FM Kapiti Open Winners.

The Open was held on Saturday 10th November after torrential rain caused the postponement from the previous Saturday. Over 60 golfers teed off and in the end the winners were Andy Sherborne and Sue Green.

Andy Sherborne won the men’s with a gross 73, just ahead of Steve Mason 74.

Third place were Steve Thomson and Ricky Bartlett (Paraparaumu) on 76. The Menes Nett was won by Hugh Sutherland on 62 narrowly over Oki Latief 63.

In the Women’s Sue Green came in first with 93 gross, just ahead of Katrina Bullen on 95. The Nett was won by Venna Seymour 76, second place was Kasey Ainsworth 77. And the stableford was won by Allison Miller (Waikanae).

Kapiti Golf Club would like to thank all our sponsors, as well as our team of volunteers who made the day such a success.

Pictured are Winners Sue Green and Andy Sherborne pose with their trophies.

January 2019

Mornington Golf Club run a growing accessible golf programme. Participants have a wide range of disabilities. They staged a Christmas celebration where parents attended a fun packed afternoon on the green with a fun 9 hole mini putt followed by a session of longest drive.

The team performed so well and some parents viewed our work for the first time. We ended the celebration with a Christmas Lunch.

TASMAN

ONEKAKA LINKS GOLF CLUB

Arguably New Zealand’s most exclusive course – at Onekaka in Golden Bay Established in 2009, the Onekaka Links experience offers Kauri Cliffs/Pebble Beach-like vistas and truly memorable golf. The course is located on a sand-spit across the mouth of the Onekaka estuary, midway between Takaka and Collingwood in Golden Bay Introduction The course contains one par 5, eight par 4s and nine par 3 holes and has a number of fairly extreme green locations, including one double green and a triple green, severe elevation changes and penal bunkering. Either the ocean, ponds, cliffs or metre high rough are adjacent to all greens. While not a long course it’s rarely conquered.

Design Philosophy The prime design objective was to create 18 individual holes that were each memorable. The second was to ensure that almost every shot was challenging if not intimidating. Overcoming the challenge of daunting holes is part of what makes a course memorable. A third objective was to offer more than one strategic option on every tee. A fourth objective was to create a beautiful place with conTASMAN NOTICEBOARD 12-13 Jan

Motueka

03 5288998

NBS Motueka Open

26-27 Jan

Rarangi

(03) 570 5709

McKendry Honda Summer Spectacular

3-Feb

Totaradale

03 541 8030

Timber Town

6-Feb

Tasman

03 5288998

Tasman/Motueka Open

7-Feb

Tasman

03-5485029

Old Hickory

9-Feb

Motueka

03 5288998

Anchorage Wines Open Stableford

brian.hampy@ outlook.com

West Coast Challenge 2019

5-8 Mar

WWW.GOLFERPACIFIC.CO.NZ

touring pleasing to the eye.Player feedback to date suggests that all of these objectives have been achieved.

The very limited area available meant that achieving the secondary goal (intimidation) required a focus on accuracy combined with distance control. Fortunately the contours of the property suggested very logical green locations in close proximity to trees, the ocean, the estuary, ponds and cliff edges. To these natural hazards we have added bunkering, some of it helpful to players (when near cliff edges), some not.

To sum up: • There are 9 par threes, one par 5 and 8 par fours, seven of them driveable • The greens are medium size (average 300m2 ) but surrounded by trouble. Distance control is critical.

• Most tee-shots require a decision to play safe (even on a par three) or to go for it.

• Many holes have no bail out with severe trouble either on both sides of the fairway target zone and/or in front of and behind the greens.

• Playing safe on the par 4’s often makes the approach significantly more difficult.

• The bunkers, most of them with revetted walls, are testing • There are a number of blind tee shots.

• Three of the par fours require carries of 200+ metres and they are played into the prevailing wind.

• Wind is an issue especially on the cliff side holes. The golf course is in a windy location and shots are very exposed to the wind. This is not always apparent when standing on some tees.

To date these design features in combination have resulted in much higher scoring than would be anticipated by the course and slope rating. These ratings are predominantly dictated by the length of the holes and don’t take enough account of the other features that make this course so difficult. We do hope to have the course rerated in 2019 but suggest that if you are able to play at Onekaka Links regularly before then it’s an opportunity to move your handicap out by at least five shots. If you choose to play here in the wind you could add another five shots.

Testimonials ‘I have played Onekaka Links a number of times and it has more trouble around the greens than any course I have played,

anywhere, in the last 40 years’ – Rodney Barltrop – former NZ amateur champion ‘A course does not need to be long to be difficult. The 18 complex played on I think 10 greens provide a very stern test for would be golfers. It would be the hardest short course I have played. The 70 m par three 11th is the toughest short hole one could imagine. Many risk and reward holes and if you take the risk option then big numbers are on the cards if you are wayward. Great fun day to play and the hospitality is better than first class.’ – Michael Barltrop (former NZ representative) ‘Considering New Zealand’s golfing landscape there are maybe 10 experiences that should fall into a golfer’s bucket-list – playing Onekaka Links is one of them. Onekaka offers an experience like no other. Internationally renowned – some may argue against this, but it does have such potential with the main reason being it is so New Zealand. A challenge to a player of any level, spectacular in both the views and the lines of play, aspects of quirkiness that test any shot maker And we played it on a day the highest winds of the year were recorded along the coast – hence we must return. – John Freer, Boulcott’s Farm Heritage Golf Club’ -

Availability Very few people will ever have the opportunity to play because the course is only open for weekends in the summer.

The green fee of $100 per head for a minimum of 4 players covers: • Drinks and snacks at the end of the round • Up to 6 holes practice before the round • Exclusive use – no other players on the course that day • Golf cart and electric trundlers, laser distance finder • Two course guides (the club champion) and forecaddie (essential to track a number of blind tee shots) • A top-up supply of golf balls (after 5 per person have been lost....)

• A round of golf at Takaka Golf Club Bookings: chris@widespread.co.nz Web: www.onekakalinks.com

WEST COAST CHALLENGE IS BACK

The West Coast has a long golfing history and is proud to offer The West Coast Golf Challenge, a great experience for both local golfers and friends from ‘away’ – which is every part of the world that is not on ‘The Coast’.

March 5th-March 8th 2019, will be the 7th edition of the West Coast Golf Challenge. It is a great opportunity to combine four rounds of golf on four quite different courses with the chance to experience some of the most beautiful scenery in the country. The four hosting clubs are Westport on their Kawatiri links at Carters’ Beach, Reefton on their Glenburnie course, Hokitika on their links course at Mahinapua, and Greymouth on their course at Kaiata.

All of the courses will offer different challenges, from the links courses of Hokitika and Westport to the parklands layouts of Reefton and Greymouth, and all will be well prepared and presented.

Good hospitality is guaranteed. This is the West Coast after all!

Visitors are encouraged to take time either before, during or after the tournament to visit picturesque landmarks such

UP COMING EVENTS

THE ROTORUA GOLF CLUB

YOU CAN’T MISS

Arikikapakapa

Twilight Golf every Thursday.

Tee bookings at the Pro Shop Phone 07 349 0446

Ranked in the top 10 most extreme golf courses in the world due to its Geothermal nature The perfect golf group location (group rates apply) Great condition all year round WWW.GOLFERPACIFIC.CO.NZ

January 2019

Office 07 348 4051 • Pro-shop 07 349 0446

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as Denniston, Cape Foulwind, Charleston, Punakaiki, Oceana Gold mine, Lake Brunner, Brunner Mine, Shantytown, Lake Kaniere, Hokitika Gorge or The Glaciers and all of the beauty that lies between and beyond. The chance should also be taken to be impressed by and get your own examples of the wonderful art and crafts that the West Coast prides itself on. A good variety of accommodation and restaurants are available in all of the towns and visitors can choose to relocate for the next day’s play, which the schedule readily allows for, or make any of the towns their base for the duration of the tournament. The courses will be played in the following order, Westport, Reefton, Hokitika and finally Greymouth. Tournament organisers are confident that visitors and locals alike will be impressed with the $14000-plus value prize list. The tournament will be a stableford in three divisions, one for women and two for the men. With fields over 100 in the last two years we expect the limit of 120 players to be reached fairly quickly so enter early to avoid disappointment.

To express interest and receive an information pack, or visit the tournament website at http:// westcoastgolfchallenge.com for more information and an entry form.

Send your entries to Brian Hampton at brian.hampy@outlook.com or post entry and cheque payment to West Coast Golf Challenge C/o Brian Hampton, 15 Main Street, Reefton 7830. Entry is confirmed on payment.

NELSON FESTIVAL OF GOLF 2019

Considering playing in a multi-round golf tournament next year?...Then this is the one for you to enter. At last year’s event, everyone involved including players, non playing partners, sponsors and organisers, had a wonderfultime!

The tournament is played over three wonderful golf courses, namely, Nelson, Greenacres and Motueka, with two days to be played on the highly-rated Nelson Golf Course which has hosted three of the top NZ amateur tournaments. They are the New Zealand Amateur Championships, the New Zealand Seniors Championships, and the New Zealand under 19’s championships. Every event resulted in glowing reviews for the course from all the players.

The courses are all very different, giving the competitors a real challenge for the week. Nelson being a true links course, whereas Motueka is a mature parkland course, and Greenacres offering a mix of challenging waterfront and parkland holes.

Tournament dates for 2019 TSB Nelson Festival of Golf are April 28-May 3 2019 with a rest day on the Wednesday to allow competitors to put their feet up, or get out and about to visit the many attractions the region has to offer or get some practice in for the next two days of golf. Non-playing partners are also very welcome to join us for the major prize giving dinner on the Friday evening.

Entry forms and full details are available on our website www.nelsongolf. co.nz then click on the TSB Festival of Golf box on the home page, or call us on 03-548-5029 and ask for Allison for more information.

CANTERBURY 9 HOLE CHRISTMAS TOURNAMENT

The Canterbury Golf 9 Hole Christmas Tournament was played at Pegasus Golf Club last month in overcast conditions with the course in great order. A field of 63 players enjoyed the day with the following results: Grade 1 Women 1st Gross – Johanna Moore, Bottle Lake – 46 1st Net – Chris Whiteside, Templeton – 34 1st Stableford – Jenny Yates, Amberley – 19 pts CB Grade 2 Women 1st Gross – Anne Traquair, Bottle Lake – 54 1st Net – Tessa Molloy, Russley – 35 CB 1st Stableford – Linda Neilson, Avondale – 18 pts Men 1st Gross – Des Moore, Rangiora – 49 1st Net – Ted Kikstra, Greendale – 33 1st Stableford – John Evans, Amberley – 20 pts

WOODWARD CUP PROMOTION / RELEGATION

The Woodward Cup Promotion / Relegation match was played last month at Templeton Golf Club in very warm weather and the course in great condition.

This year’s event matched the highest

CANTERBURY NOTICEBOARD 12-Jan

Karamea

03 782 6648

Karamea Veterans Tournament

13-Jan

Karamea

03 782 6648

Karamea 18 Hole Summer Tournament

OTAGO SOUTHLAND NOTICEBOARD Southern - Aorangi 12-Jan

Rakaia

33027114

Rakaia New Year Tournament

19-Jan

Pegasus

(03) 920 3300

Canterbury Stroke Play

20-Jan

Pleasant Point

03-614 7304

Timaru New World Sponsored Teams Tournament - Pleasant Point

26-Jan

Geraldine

6938497

Geraldine RSA Tournament

27-Jan

Timaru

03 688 2012

Zonta Charity Ambrose

13-Jan

Waitikiri

03 383-1400

Waitikiri Open - Paul Minifie Memorial

19-Jan

Pegasus

(03) 920 3300

Lamb & Hayward Canterbury Strokeplay

20-Jan

Waimakariri Gorge

(03) 312 4339

Waimakariri Gorge Left Handers Tournament

20-Jan

Harewood

(03) 359 8843

Over 50's & 60's Round 4

21-Jan

Pegasus

(03) 920 3300

Pegasus Ladies Pairs Tournament

12-Jan

Waikouaiti

027 4657129

Waikouaiti Open Tournament

26-Jan

Greymouth

03 768 5332

West Coast Left Handers Tournament

13-Jan

Queenstown

(03) 442 9169

Altrusa Tournament

27-Jan

Balclutha

03 4182171

26-Jan

Amberley

03 314 8735

Amberley Sponsored Watering Tournament

Southern Region Rugby Ambrose

11-12 Feb

Queenstown

27-Jan

Burnham

03-3476818

Arthur Chambers Memorial Tournament

14-Feb

Taieri Lakes

34897450

Taieri Lakes Open Tournament

14-Feb

Balclutha

03 4182171

Balclutha Championship Tournament

placed teams in Blank Cup (Clearwater) and Canterbury Central Shield (Hororata), that do not already have a team in Woodward Cup with the tenth placed team in this year’s Woodward Cup (Avondale) for their place in the 2019 Woodward Cup competition. The format was gross stableford.

Hororata earned the honour of promotion to the 2019 Woodward Cup proving too strong for Clearwater and Avondale with consistency being the key, having seven out of their eight players finishing with 30 plus stableford points.

Hororata finished with 248 points, ahead of Avondale on 241 and Clearwater with 228.

Pictured below from left, are Hororata’s Shane Blakely, Blair Dibley, Owen Miller, Mark Weatherley, Al Sime, Andrew Inch, Roy Stieller and Anton Fouchee.

CANTERBURY GOLF WOMEN’S CHRISTMAS TOURNAMENT

The Canterbury Golf Women’s Christmas Tournament was held at Kaiapoi Golf Club last month in warm, sunny weather with the course in great order.

Southern- Otago

Queenstown Women’s Classic

Southern Southland 27-Jan

Riverton

225348873

Riverton Summer Tournament Ambross

3-Feb

Kingston

274353565

Kingston Open Stroke

13-Feb

Queens Park

03 2188371

DB/ILT Liquorland Charity Tournament

16-17 Feb

Gore Golf

32089932

Gore Classic

The tournament was well supported with 69 entries and a highlight of the day was Elaine Rae from Rangiora scoring a hole in one on No.5.

Results were: Grade 1: 1st Gross, Heather Harvey Salver – Jill Davison, Rangiora – 81 Grade 2: 1st Gross, CDLGA Salver – Leslie Hart, Waimairi Beach – 91 CB Grade 1: 1st Net – Sharon Worrall, Kaiapoi – 72 CB Grade 1: 1st Stableford – Lorry Ellis, Pegasus – 35 points Grade 2: 1st Net – Kathy Sutherland, Rangiora – 68 Grade 2: 1st Stableford – Elanie Rae, Rangiora – 36 points CB Age Group Trophies: Miss L V Gates Trophy – Lyn Robertson, Amberley – Gross 84 Belle Collins Large Salver – Judy Smith, McLeans Island – Gross 82 Belle Collins Dish – Jill Davison, Rangiora – Gross 81

OTAGO SOUTHLAND CHAIRPERSON AORANGI GOLF ANNOUNCED

The Aorangi Golf Association Board of Blair Franklin, Ginny Bolderston, Helen Lowe, Warren Leslie and Sandra Quinn are pleased to announce the election of Blair Franklin as the Chairperson of the Aorangi Golf Association.

Ginny Bolderston was also elected as Deputy Chairperson.

Introduction Blair Franklin The future for Aorangi Golf is a bright one. We have clubs in the region who are currently bucking the national trend of diminishing numbers, have committees and boards who are passionate about the future of their clubs and members, many talented players who have the potential and ability to achieve higher honours, and some outstanding talent in the area of Green keeping.

Our challenges are around recruitment, retention and sustainability.

Over the coming months each club will be receiving correspondence from the Aorangi Board informing you of your “Person of contact” on the Aorangi Board.

This person will be your “Go to” person for all matters concerning Aorangi Golf.

A key focus for the board over the next 6 months is to meet with as many, if not all clubs to discuss their current position and how Aorangi Golf can assist in achieving their targets.

PRESIDENTS & SECRETARIES DAY

The Annual Canterbury Golf Presidents and Secretaries Day was held at Russley Golf Club last month with the course in excellent condition, providing a real challenge for all players.

The teams bamboozle stableford competition was a very close affair with three teams finishing on 115 points before the team pictured above of, from left Chris Clarke (Kaiapoi), Shawn Fibbes (Templeton), Mike Cross (Kaiapoi) and Tom Wilson (Templeton) won on a countback.

TWILIGHT GOLF

ACROSS

dinner · Great prize table · Individual stableford, Men’s & Women’s divisions · Team prizes · Special price for cart hireage-$15 per cart

AUCKLAND’S #1 RATED COURSE

phone: (09) 827 3967 or email golfdirector@titirangigolf.co.nz to book your spot

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CKL A ND

When I am not doing my day to day job as Account Manager for Kookaburra Sport NZ (South Island and lower half of the North Island), I am spending time with my partner Lyndal and our 12yr old slightly deaf Golden Retriever Fergus in Methven. I have two sons, Jeremy 28 and George 20 who are both mad keen farmers.

Sport Development is a passion of mine having spent 12 years working in this industry. (6 years at Canterbury Country Cricket and 6 years at NZ Cricket).

I play my golf at the Ashburton Golf Club, have represented the Aorangi Masters for the last 2 years, and managed the Men’s Toro team at Clearwater in 2018.

My Contact Details: E: chairperson@aorangigolf.org.nz M: 021 961715 Ben Patston (Otago) has won the 2018 Otago order of merit, scoring 199.5 points for his best eight performances in the listed tournaments.

Patston (32) made the Otago eight-man team this year but failed to make the final five to compete in the recent Toro interprovincial.

GOLFCROSSWORD

Titirangi Golf Club – Over 9 holes Thursday Nights Commencing Thursday 25th October

· Thursday evenings 5.30pm shotgun start · Open to all - $15 members, $25 visitors - includes

My door is always open and happy to hear all positive feedback.

The success of golf in the Aorangi region is hugely reliant on the ability of all clubs and Aorangi Golf to have open and honest communication.

I am extremely excited about the next 12 months and where our future lies.

1 Group of people playing for one side in the Ryder Cup, for example (4-5) 6 Perhaps garb seen on a Scottish golf course (5) 9 Relaxed (5) 10 Baseballer positioned in and around the diamond (9) 11 American who won two events on the Champions Tour in 2014, Kirk ________ (8) 12 US state that’s home for Michelle Wie (6) 13 Plan of action that might be needed to win a tournament (8) 15 Joint highest-finishing Kiwi at the 2018 Australian PGA Championship, ____ Geary (4) 18 Curved structure (4) 20 Winner of The Open in 2018, Francesco ________ (8) 24 One after the other (2,1,3) 25 Golfing equaliser (8) 27 Multiple major winner and golf commentator (4,5) 28 Another name for a golf club (5) 29 One who doesn’t win (5) 30 One cost of playing a round of golf (5,4)

DOWN

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January 2019

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the 2018 PGA Tour of Australasia’s Qualifying School, James _______ (7) 3 Interfering people (8) 4 Rickie Fowler’s back-nine score in the last round of the 2018 Masters (6-3) 5 Lacking hardness or firmness, like a sandy lie (4) 6 American winner of the 2018 BMW Championship, ______ Bradley (6) 7 Winner of the 2016 NZ Women’s Open (5,2) 8 In a line without bends or curves, possibly like the ideal drive (8)

14 Act without assistance (2,2,5) 16 Across the country (8) 17 Joint highest-finishing Kiwi at the 2018 Australian PGA Championship, Gareth ________ (8) 19 Opportunities (7) 21 Slope (7) 22 One playing a round (6) 23 Shoe attachments that provide grip (6) 26 A conspicuous sign to mark the position of a golfhole (4) >> SOLUTION NEXT EDITION

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He shares his passion for golf with rugby and has played at first five-eighth for the Green Island premier team during winter.

Patston made his mark last year when he won the national left-handers’ title at Chisholm Park.

Points are awarded for each tournament with the best eight performances averaged for the final points awarded for the year.

Patston got the march on the other players winning the Lakes District title for a maximum of 320 points.

He finished ahead of 18-year-old Callum Judkins (Wakatipu Junior) who came in second place with 188.1 points.

Duncan Croudis (Otago) was third, Ryan Bellamy (St Clair) was fourth, and Otago captain Brandon Hodgson (Otago) came in fifth.

Croudis could feel aggrieved finishing in third place as he scored 320 points in three of the highly rated tournaments.

Patston was awarded $750, Judkins ($550), Croudis ($350), Bellamy ($250) and Hodgson $150 in the competition.

As they are amateur golfers, the money is kept for them to spend on golf equip-

ment, travel to events, tournament entry fees and coaching.

Many provinces do not have trials to select their Toro teams and use their order of merit placings to assist their selectors.

This year the team and reserve would have been markedly different and if Otago is to implement this policy, the order of merit tournaments would have to be carefully chosen.

Leading players with their points in the Bridgestone Golf Otago senior order of merit for last year: 199.5 – Ben Patston (Otago).

188.1 – Callum Judkins (Wakatipu Junior).

185.5 – Duncan Croudis (Otago).

139.9 – Ryan Bellamy (St Clair).

132.7 – Brandon Hodgson (Otago).

108.4 – Blake Mason (Wanaka).

107.3 – Phil Bungard (North Otago).

103.4 – Fraser MacLachlan (Millbrook).

87.5 – Johnny Mackay (Lower Waitaki).

86.6 – Ryan Shuttleworth (Wanaka).

86.5 – Jacob Bellamy (Port Chalmers).

83.4 – Kyle Clark (Cromwell).

80.9 – Hayden Robertson (Taieri Lakes).

60.6 – Josedph Hancock (St Clair).

58.2 – Jack Turner (Wakatipu Junior).

57.3 – Parker Aluesi (St Clair).

56.3 – Sungwoo Han (Queenstown).

55.3 – Michael Smith (Island Park).

Parker Aluesi should by all rights be standing on the side of the fairway, raking the bunker rather than hitting the ball.

But a lack of binocular vision has not stopped him racking up the golf awards in what is turning into a promising career.

Aluesi has been named as the Eagles Golfing Society of Otago under-17 junior player of the year for 2018.

Aluesi (16) has had a good year. He won the under-16 Otago title at Balmacewen, was selected at No4 in the Otago junior team to play at Cambridge and was the only under-17 Otago player to make the cut in the national junior championships.

He has also has won three of the coveted trophies at Otago Boys’ High School.

When not studying at school, sleeping or eating at home, Aluesi can be found at his second home – the St Clair Golf Club. ”He is either practising or working for me in the St Clair golf shop when here,” St Clair Golf Club resident professional Patrick Moore said.

Aluesi has not had an easy road to

golfing success as the right-hander has a glass left eye and only has vision from one eye. ”I was 6 years old and attended a birthday party when I fell over and a metal pole went through my right eye,” Aluesi said.

Although he lacks binocular vision, Aluesi said it had not hindered his progress on the golf course as he still was a good judge of distance and had good depth perception.

He is loving the game and his glass eye is just part of who he is.

Aluesi joins an elite group of professionals and amateurs to have won the trophy which was first awarded in 1969.

Prominent professionals include Shelley Duncan, Ben Gallie, the late Ron Johnston, Mahal Pearce, Alan Rose and Greg Turner.

This year’s Otago No1 Inia Logan was a recent recipient of the trophy while Chris Alldred, Brett and Michael Atkinson, Tony Giles, Bruce Grant and Brent McEwan have all been successful amateurs when representing Otago.

Introducing the new Big Bertha Irons and Hybrids C is the engine that delivers easy launch, long, consistent distance and incredible sound and feel.

Callaway’s innovative 360 Face Cup employs a flexible rim around the face that flexes and releases at impact to increase ball speed. Add the high launch angles generated by the Suspended Energy Core, Callaway is able to make their thinnest face cup for increased speeds that promote longer distance versus their previous Big Bertha models. If you’re a golfer looking for an iron or that goes long and is easy to launch, be sure to trial the new Big Bertha Irons.

Also released today is the new Big Bertha Hybrid. Callaway is the #1 Hybrid Brand in the United

allaway Golf is delighted to announce the latest additions to the Big Bertha family, the new Big Bertha Irons and Hybrids featuring ground-breaking technologies for faster ball speed and easy launch.

Big Bertha is one of the most iconic names in golf equipment, designed to push the boundaries of innovation so far that it transforms an entire category. This franchise started with Callaway’s Big Bertha Irons in 2014 led by 360 Face Cup technology and continued in 2016 with Big Bertha OS Irons and its EXO-Cage technology. And Callaway’s done it once again with the new Big Bertha Irons, led by its ground-breaking Suspended Energy Core; which

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States* because they offer golfers high ball speeds that lead to long distance. It started with the introduction of the Hyper Speed Face Cup that completely redefined the category and advanced with their innovative Jailbreak Technology. And now with Callaway’s Big Bertha Hybrids they’re giving golfers a ground-breaking combination: Jailbreak ball speeds and adjustability for easy launch.

The new Big Bertha Irons and Hybrids are available exclusively in Australia and New Zealand before the rest of the world, so be sure to trial them now at your local Callaway Authorised Retailer if you’re looking for an easy to launch iron or hybrid that goes long.

January 2019

O P T I M I S T T H O M A S

C T O B E R O H U M B S C A T C H P A T U A R T N L D E E M E S A R D C F E L B O U U U U B U R B

R D A A T E N T N L A Y E L G E M E E D A G S O R U A R N E E M S E

U T I F U L A R E A C I O U S K N S O T T O D N N M I N I S N T G A R E T H L U E L O S E R O E S W A V E D E E A L D E R L Y

WWW.GOLFERPACIFIC.CO.NZ

Best of HAWAII Golf and FIJI Pro-Ams

R

ichard Ellis a former touring golf professional is the owner of the very successful New Zealand based golf tour and tournament company, Pacific Golf Management. Richard has over 25 years’ experience running golf tours, international amateur and professional tournaments around the world and personally overseas every tour & tournament.

You have more than likely heard of events like the Sheraton Golf Classic, the South Pacific’s biggest pro-am tournament, Hawaii International Golf Week, Best of Hawaii Golf, Thailand Golf Classic, South Pacific Legends Classic, Fiji legends, New Caledonia Women’s Pro-Am, Asia Championship Tour. More than 700 people have attended Pacific Golf’s overseas tours or tournaments this year.

Ellis says we must be doing it right, we have huge amount of repeat business, all our advertised tours have one or more golf pro’s traveling with the group, so a free customer swing fix is never a problem, his company is also organising a number of private golf tours for smaller groups and various golf clubs, with Hawaii as the most popular destination.

Richard said the big island of Hawaii is his favourite destination, he said we use a fantastic beach front hotel, two amazing courses at the resort and 5 more world class layouts within 10 minutes’ drive.

Pacific Golf has an impressive 2019 golf holiday and tournament program to Hawaii, Fiji, New Caledonia, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand and more.

Whether you enjoy the world class resort courses and magnificent beach front hotels in Hawaii or traveling to Vietnam, Cambodia or Thailand and challenge yourself playing some of the best championship courses in Asia. Maybe closer to home would suit playing in the South Pacific’s biggest 4 round proam event at Natadola Bay & Denarau in Fiji with over $130,000 professional prize money and great amateur prizes. How about a women’s pro-am in New Caledonia.

You don’t have to be a great golfer to join in the fun of these tours and tournaments and there is always plenty of activates for the non-golfing partners, if you enjoy playing fantastic golf courses staying at top notch resorts and hotels and having a great time, maybe one of following tours will suit you. Go to www.pacificgolf.co.nz for a full list of tours and event information or contact Richard , richard@pacificgolf.co.nz or call 021 989996 Hawaii International Golf Week (August 17th to 24th) 7th annual tour and tournament to the big Island of Hawaii which is a 30-minute flight from Honolulu. Five- star accommodation for 7 nights in an ocean view room at the magnificent beachfront Westin Hapuna Beach Hotel at the iconic Mauna Kea Resort. Two world class golf courses at the resort and another five amazing courses less than 15 minutes’ drive.

This event has become very popular and always attracts a great group of Aussie and Kiwi golfers who enjoy playing a great course, staying at a superb hotel and competing in an enjoyable competition. You will love playing five rounds on some of the best

2019

15th Hole Mauna Lani South Course

courses in Hawaii plus there’s two PGA golf pros on tour to help sharpen your skills (all included in the cost) You don’t have to be a great golfer to take part , just have an official handicap, the 4-round tournament is played in women’s and men’s divisions and even a scratch event for the guns. It’s a great week, welcome cocktail party, nightly drinks, excellent prizes and fun tournament dinner and entertainment to finish. For the non- golfers there are always plenty of activates, this event has sold out the last two years.

The Best of Hawaii Golf Tour (August 17th to 29th) Hawaii is a long way to go for just one week, after you have enjoyed the International Golf Week tournament and 7 nights on the big island as mentioned above, we take a short flight to the island of Maui and spend 4 nights at the beach front Marriott Wailea Resort. Wailea is Maui’s most exclusive resort area, five international resort hotels, 3 great golf courses, large shopping

GOLF TOURS

TOUR PACKAGE

August 18th - August 24th 2019

August 18th - August 28th 2019

6 nights twin share accommodation at the five-star Westin Hapuna Beach Hotel, ocean view rooms Daily full buffet breakfast Free PGA professional coaching & clinics 4 tournament rounds of golf including cart, Mauna Kea, Hapuna Beach, Mauna Lani North & South courses Range balls before play each day Entry into the Hawaii International Golf Week tournament Welcome function at Westin Hapuna Beach Hotel Nightly drinks for one hour each night at the Westin during the tournament Player gift pack including tournament logo polo & cap, valued at over $120 Final night gala prize presentation dinner and drinks and entertainment.

Great prizes Full tournament & event organisation by Pacific Golf Management All transport to and from golf courses during the tournament plus return Airport transfers Daily hotel resort fee, includes- free Wi Fi & in room internet, parking, gym access, range balls.

All tax’s on accommodation, golf, meals and drinks included in the package

TOUR PACKAGE

5 Nights twin share accommodation at Sheraton or Westin Fiji Resort, Denarau Island Return airport / hotel transfers from Nadi International Airport Daily full breakfast 4 rounds of golf in the Pro-Am including carts and range balls daily Daily lunch and on course drinks during tournament play Gala Welcome Cocktail Party Nightly drinks at the tournament bar (during the tournament) All transport from Hotel to golf courses during the tournament Player gift pack valued at $120.00 Over $130,000 in Prize money and Prizes

Final night Gala Banquet dinner, drinks and entertainment.

GOLFERS PP US$2797 (NON-PLAYERS US$1882) TWIN SHARE

GOLFERS PP NZ$2045 (NON-PLAYERS NZ$1398) TWIN SHARE

TOUR PACKAGE

TOUR PACKAGE

6 nights accommodation at the five- star Westin Hapuna Beach Hotel & Spa, ocean view rooms 4 nights accommodation at the five- star Marriott Wailea Beach Resort.

Daily full breakfast, at the Westin Hapuna Beach, 7 days 5 Rounds of golf including cart at Mauna Kea, Hapuna, Mauna Lani North Mauna Lani South and Wailea Ranges balls before play each day Entry into the Hawaii International Golf Week tournament Free PGA professional coaching & clinics Welcome function at Westin Hapuna Beach Hotel Nightly drinks, one hour each night at the tournament bar during the tournament.

Player gift pack including tournament logo polo & cap valued at over $130 Gala tournament prize presentation dinner, drinks & entertainment.

Great prizes Full tournament & event organisation by Pacific Golf Management All transport to and from the golf courses plus return Airport to Hotel transfers Daily Hotel resort fees included at Westin and Marriott All tax’s on accommodation, golf, meals and drinks included in the package

GOLFERS PP US$3864 (NON-PLAYERS US$2756) TWIN SHARE

WWW.GOLFERPACIFIC.CO.NZ

centre numerous restaurants, bars and other activates. After four nights in this golfing paradise you won’t want to go home so consider heading back to Honolulu and a few nights in the famous Waikiki, more time golfing and shopping paradise. spend a few nights at the fantastic Prince Waikiki Hotel which is the only hotel in Waikiki with all ocean view rooms, enjoy a round of golf at the Hawaiian Prince course. Waikiki is also a shopping mecca and the famous Ala Moana Shopping centre only a few minutes’ walk from the hotel.

The Sheraton Golf Classic Fiji (June 3rd – 9th) The South Pacific’s biggest pro-am tournament with over $130,000 in professional prize money and great amateur prizes. There are amazing individual and team’s prizes for the amateurs. You will have a professional in your group for all four rounds of the tournament played at the fantastic VJ Singh designed Natadola Bay & Denarau Golf & Racquet Club. Five-star accommodation at Sheraton or Westin Fiji Resort, opening cocktail party, daily on course lunch and drinks, nightly drinks at the tournament bar, final night grand banquet dinner and entertainment, fantastic value for this package.

Get in quick this event sells out every year.

Other 2019 events include, New Caledonia Ladies Pro-Am (12th – 16th March), Cambodia, Thailand Golf Classic Teams event (March/ April) Legends South Pacific Golf Classic Pro-Am, New Caledonia (September) Go to www.pacificgolf.co.nz for full information or email richard@pacificgolf.co.nz phone +64 21989996.

January 2019

6 nights luxury twin share accommodation at Mission Hills Haikou Resort 3 nights luxury twin share accommodation at Sheraton Shenzhou Daily full buffet breakfast 6 rounds of golf on championship courses, Blackstone, Lava Fields, Sand Belt Trails, The Vintage, Dunes East & West courses Your own caddy and cart each round Men’s & Women’s tournament competition, with excellent prizes Players gift pack Welcome cocktails & canapes Tournament prize presentation buffet dinner and drinks Daily mineral springs experience access- hotel water park at Mission Hills Transfers- Airport to Mission Hills then to Sheraton Shenzhou and airport transfer on departure.

Richard Ellis tournament & tour director

GOLFERS NZ$2826 (NON-PLAYERS NZ$1391) TWIN SHARE

WWW.PACIFICGOLF.CO.NZ

31

IN-STORE NOW

Introducing the NEW M-Series compact trundler range. Developed to offer an 11% smaller folded footprint than its nearest competitor. The simple folding system and revolutionary inverting wheels provides the ultimate ‘car boot friendly’ trundler, perfect for easy transportation and storage. Think Small, Think M-Series.

THE BEST JUST GOT BETTER Available at: 32

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www.golfwarehouse.nz January 2019

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