Club champ finals and other results 17/10/26

Waahi Taakaro's club champions for 2026 have been found, with one player claiming his first title and the other three adding to their tallies.

Two of the matches were closely fought while the other two were over early, with the senior, intermediate, and junior A finals played off the blue tees over 36 holes and the junior B final over 18 holes on a course in tiptop condition thanks to sterling work from greenkeeper James Dale and his team.

In the senior final, Nick Riddell used patience, persistence and a dash of late panache to recover from four down against James Campion to prevail 2/1.

It was Nick's sixth senior title but his first since 2012 and came just three months after resuming regular club golf.

However, he began the final poorly by hooking his opening drive into the river and struggled to find his rhythm as a more steadier James ended the first nine 2 up. The lead grew to four by the 14th as James parred four in a row and Nick made a mess of No 12 and 13. Nick then parred the downhill No 15 and birdied No 16 to reduce the deficit to two and a par on No 18 saw him start the second 18 just one adrift as both men lifted their game. 

A par by Nick at the par three 20th was enough to draw even but James reclaimed the lead with a par five at the 21st only to loss the short 23rd to par. Nick took the lead for the first time on the 25th with a par but James repeated the dose on the next to level it up as they finished their third nine all square.

James birdied the par five 28th to edge ahead but it was short-lived as Nick won the next with a par three. He then took the long 28th with a par but James sunk a putt from off the green for a fine birdie on the uphill 31st to again draw level. However, James crucially missed a short putt for par - one of handful during the match - on the par-three 32nd to fall behind. 

Nick delivered the killer blow on the downhill par four, putting laser-like 6 iron to two feet for a birdie to go 2 up with three to play. Two pars saw him seal victory.

Peter Watson made it a three-peat in the intermediate final, cruising to a 9/8 win over Andrew Bosselmann who had early upset two higher seeds to reach his first final. 

Understandably nervous, Andrew lost his opening four holes to two pars and two bogeys from Peter, who was playing in his eighth final. He stemmed the bleeding by winning the next two but lost No 8 and No 9 to the veteran leftie who turned 4 up. It was soon five as Peter birdied the par five 10th, but Andrew got up and down for par at the 11th to get one back. As Andrew struggled with a wayward driver and his irons, Peter inflicted further pain by winning five holes on the bounce with a mixture of pars and bogeys to stretch his lead to nine as they came to the 18th.

To his credit, Andrew - who hit some booming drives and sunk some good putts - kept plugging away, winning the 18th and then sharing the spoils over their third nine with two holes apiece to force the match into the final back nine. Peter - who played to his handicap - ended it in style on the par five 28th , stiffing an iron to three feet for a conceded birdie to win for the third consecutive year.

Junior A rivals Gareth Edwards and Harry Ambrose were both playing their first club final and battled it out tenaciously before Gareth struck late for a 3/2 victory. While Gareth was straighter off the tee and was tidy around the greens, Harry stayed in the fight with some great scrambling and excellent wedge play.

Gareth won the opening hole but found himself behind as Harry won No 3 and 4 with bogeys but he rebounded by taking No 8 and No 9 with pars to turn 1 up. Harry immediately struck back at No 10 with a par before inching ahead with a bogey at the difficult 13th. However, Gareth got back on even terms with a par three at No 14 and then stepped it up by winning the next three with two pars and bogey to go three in front at the halfway point.

Gareth went 4 up twice during the third nine but Harry hung tough and won the 26th and 27th with pars to go into the final stretch just two behind. Gareth won the 30th with a par five yet couldn't shake off his opponent who countered by winning the next two to be just one back with four to play. But there was no denying Gareth who won the 33rd with a bogey and the 34th with a par to claim his maiden title.

Andrew Craig seriously thought about pulling out of his junior B final with Jack Denton after a sleepless night with sciatica. But some powerful painkillers did the trick and he dominated his match against an out-of-sorts rival to coast to a 6/5 win. 

He was two up after four before Jack won a hole with a par three at No 5. Andrew then stretched his lead to three with bogeys at the 6th and 7th before Jack took the 9th to turn two down. But that was as close as it got as Andrew reeled off five holes on the trot with a succession of pars and bogeys to canter to back-to-back championship victories.

In the match of the day for other 18-holers, Lewis Wilson returned to form with a fine net 68 off the blue tees, with Sivina Jacobs-Harawira close behind with a 69. Maurice Woodhouse finished third with a 71. No-one managed a two.

Closest to the pin on No 11 went to Micayla Lowden who put her tee shot to five feet.

Defending 9-hole competition champion Paul McCrae showed he is in no mood to give up his crown without a fight by winning the match of the day, a par round off the back nine, to stretch his points lead over the rest of the field. He won on countback from Marg Parfitt after both went round in +2. Rebecca Gibson claimed third on countback from Ian Hanford, Brenton Sheppard and Donna Dawson after all recorded +1. Again, no-one scored a two.

Next Saturday (Oct 24) the 18-holers play the final round of both the Barkman Trophy and Shootout off the white tees. The Shootout final will follow the match of the day. The 9-holers will play a net round off the front nine.