hkga
Pethes Makes it Three Stunning 68 the catalyst as Joe romps to home course win
J
oe Pethes shot one of the finest rounds of his amateur career en route to clinching the MacGregor Hong Kong Seniors' Close Championship at Fanling late May, his third win at the event in four years. Pethes, who also triumphed in 2007 and 2008, carded a three-day total of 228 (15-over-par) to take the title by five shots from Hong Kong Golf Club member Donald Moore and outgoing Hong Kong Golf Association president William Chung who tied for second. Defending champion Matajiro Nagatomi, of Discovery Bay, produced back-toback rounds of 77 before slumping to a final-day 83 to finish in solo sixth. HK SENIORS' CLOSE OVERALL RESULTS Opening with a lackluster Hong Kong Golf Club, Old Course 81, 64-year-old Pethes took May 26-28, 2010 control of the tournament thanks to a brilliant performance on the second 1 Joe PETHES 81-68-79 228 day. The penultimate round 2= Donald MOORE 77-78-78 233 of a tournament is known William CHUNG 75-78-80 233 as "moving day" and Pethes 4 Isamu TAKEMOTO 82-77-75 234 rocketed up eight places and 5 PANG Yat-wai 75-78-82 235 into the lead thanks to a 6 Matajiro NAGATOMI 77-77-83 237 three-under-par 68. Firing 7= Peter AHERNE 84-76-79 239 four birdies and just a solitary Eric LEUNG 80-80-79 239 bogey over the tricky Old Course, Pethes' magnificent Ted LING 80-76-83 239 effort gave him a comfortable 10= KAN King-ting 78-82-80 240 four-shot cushion heading Wilson CHAN 84-76-80 240 into the final round.
"It wasn't particularly pretty out there at times but I did enough to win," said the Canadian-born Pethes after closing out the event with a 79. "The 68 in the second round was probably the best I've ever played in a competition. I've had the same score in this championship before [at Clearwater Bay in 2008] but this one was a better round. It feels nice to have my title back." –Alex Jenkins
DIVSION RESULTS Age 55-59 1 William CHUNG 2 Isamu TAKEMOTO 3 Peter AHERNE
75-78-78 82-77-75 84-76-79
233 234 239
Age 60-64 1 Joe PETHES 2 Donald MOORE 3 Matajiro NAGATOMI
81-68-79 77-78-78 77-77-83
228 233 237
Age 65-69 1 PANG Yat-wai 2 NG Kwok-kuen 3 Tommy SHIU
75-78-82 235 86-86-81 253 85-85-84 254
70 & Above 1 Ernest EVANS 2 TONG To-fuk 3 Martin CLINCH
86-85-79 250 93-90-92 275 92-90-WD 182
Senior Showdown (clockwise from top): Joe Pethes receives his trophy; Peter Aherne at the sixteenth; Don Moore just misses out; defending champ Matajiro Nagatomi tees off; William Chung had a solid week; Monotobu Yanai in action
"The 68 was probably the best I've played in a competition."
Stellar short game (right): Pethes used his remarkable greenside skills en route to victory at Fanling. 50
HK GOLFER・AUG/SEP 2010
HKGOLFER.COM
HKGOLFER.COM
HK GOLFER・AUG/SEP 2010
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