Club results for 21/2/26

Club captain James Campion warmed up for his Sloan Trophy match tomorrow (Feb 22) by winning the third round of the Stubberfield Cup in impressive fashion but it was veteran leftie Peter Watson who moved into pole position to defend his title with one round to go.

James tamed a course providing plenty of run in shooting 74 off the stick from the white tees - the best gross of the day. In gusty conditions, he went out in 39, which included a triple at No 1 and eight pars, and back in a one-under 35, which included a birdie two at No 11 and eight more pars. His net 69 combined with 26 putts saw him top the match of the day leaderboard with a total of 95 in the net plus putts competition.

Peter scrambled his way to a 96 for second which comprised a net 71 and 25 putts.

Barry Rhodes shot one of the best nets of the day, a 66, to go with 31 putts for a total of 97 which secured him third, while Dave Huntley (69+31) finished fourth on countback after totalling 100 along with Geoff Halkett (70+30), Keri Kotua (70+30) and Aaron Kotua (72+28). 

Next were Bryan Ramsey and Matt Tomczyk on 101, with Gareth Edwards rounding out the top ten with 102.

Five players - James, Aaron, Neil McLaren, Lewis Wilson and Mick Leggett - shared the twos money with one each, with Mick's tee shot at No 11 hitting the pin at slow sped but somehow staying out for what would have been a thrilling ace for the 26-handicapper. Mick deservedly won closest to the pin on No 2/11, while Andy Isle was nearest on No 5/14.

So after three of four rounds of the Stubberfield Cup (with the best three counting), Peter holds a seven-shot lead among those golfers who have played all three rounds. His total of 293 is comfortably ahead of Andy (300), James and Neil on 303 and Bryan (304), but the biggest threats comes from Barry and Gareth who have played just two rounds for totals of 196 and 197 respectively and could clinch the cup with another low round if Peter falters. The final round is on March 14 off the blue tees.

Paul McCrae showed yet again he is one of the most consistent of our nine-hole golfers with a fine net 32 off the front nine. Playing off an 11-handicap, he parred two and bogeyed the remainder in a very tidy performance. Barbara Kotua received one the biggest cheers for shooting a net 33 to finish second. Steve Turnell and Mike De Veer shared third after posting 34 each. John Dixon also finished under his handicap in shooting 35.

The club welcomed back Andrew Milne, a former club secretary, captain and champion, who was visiting from Wellington. Andrew, his brother Ewan and father and mother Stuart and Bev were heavily involved in running the club in the 1980s and 1990s.

Next Saturday (Feb 28) is the second and final round of the Cap-it-all Trophy which is a net round with selected partners off the blue tees. Both individual scores will be added to each team's first round four ball best ball score with the winner being the team with the lowest combined score.

The nine-holers will play a four ball best ball net round off the back nine.

Tomorrow (Feb 21) our Sloan team of Pete Green, James Campion, Keri Kotua, Matt Tomczyk, Neil McLaren and Mark Clucas will take on Takaka at Murchison in the second round of the inter-club competition. Good luck guys.