Interclub Recap

“Sunday, Bloody Sunday”. I just couldn’t get this song out of my head as I traveled over the hill early on Sunday morning with a slight to middling hangover! With Royal Wellington Golf Club forcing this on the Otaki Cup contenders year after year, and informing team managers they would not be providing carts for this round, I am sure you can understand my frustrations. On a positive note, however, “kicking their arse” 14 – 1 in Division 2 Interclub at home the previous day gave me an extra sense of satisfaction.

It was great to welcome debutant George Deans to the team and he would get things underway for us as he teamed up with Peter Jackson as our first foursomes pairing out. It would be fair to say that early nerves got the better of George as the pair lost ground to their opponents, being three down after the first six holes. Despite their best efforts, they could not claw their way back into the match with the final result being a 6/5 loss.

With Joel Macklin on “COVID” leave, his foursomes partner, Luke Lange, teamed up with Dean Gray as our next pairing. They worked well together and were in a tight match from the outset. The updates I got from these guys throughout the morning never had them more than one up or one down at any stage. Dean’s steadying influence paid dividends, with both players displaying great confidence despite their match hanging in the balance throughout. When they were all square with six holes to play, much of the team was there in support. They would finally break the deadlock on the par 4 12th, our penultimate hole having started on the 14th. Dean rolled in a good par-saving putt to win the hole and go one-up with one to play. Taking the honour on the final hole (the par 4, 13th), Dean’s tee shot snuck into the left rough, leaving a difficult approach shot for Luke. With some tree trouble to go with the rough lie, it would take a great shot to find the putting surface but Luke delivered as he muscled one out of the rough. The ball would give the tree a tickle on the way past but ultimately he left his playing partner with the opportunity to walk to the green with his putter in hand. Par would be enough to halve the hole and Dean did a great job to roll his putt up close enough to be conceded for a one-up win. Nice work lads!

Unfortunately, that would be the only point earned in the morning session with our final three pairings suffering heavy defeats. Phillip Tuoro and Jason Lange got to an early one-up lead but things turned quickly for them to be two down after seven holes. From there, things got even tougher as they were only able to halve one of the next five holes, losing the rest to succumb to a 6/5 loss.

Rob Blackett and Gordon Reisima would suffer a similar fate with a 6/4 loss to opponents who played very well as a pair on the long and difficult Royal Wellington course. Their opponents didn’t drop many shots and they threw in the odd birdie for good measure to close the match out early.

Recent form gave us hope that our pairing of Jamie Frew and Sam Forrester could produce another foursomes win. It wouldn’t come today, unfortunately. When they were two down through seven holes, their experienced opponents offered very little in terms of opening the door for a comeback. They would go on to lose 5/4 and the team would head to lunch, having only secured a solitary point for the day so far. Lunch was nice – lasagne!

The lads were up against it in the afternoon as well. The wind strengthened and the greens got a bit faster as the day progressed. However, there was some good fight displayed early in the singles matches from our boys. Through the first five holes we were down in six matches but either all square or up in the other four. We would have taken four points from the singles at that stage if we could have.

George had overcome those early nerves and kept his opponent honest as they traded wins and losses to end up being all square after 10 holes. With playing partner Peter Jackson being three down at the same stage, my hopes lay with George to pull through with at least one win from this pairing. It would be Jacko that would come away with the win for us, however. A great fightback saw him wear his opponent down and impose a two-down defeat on him. Nice work Jacko! Unfortunately, George was not able to finish as strong as he fell to a 3/1 loss. A great effort on debut nonetheless.

Luke and Gordon were always just behind in their matches as I got updates throughout the afternoon. The greens got the better of Luke at times and a bogey on the difficult par 3, 11th would end his fight as he suffered a 3/2 loss. Gordon’s match ended on the previous hole as he probably tried to do too much being dormy down as he started it. He would lose 4/3 despite his ace on the par 3, 3rd hole. That’s right, an ace! It is Gordon’s second time achieving the rare feat but to do it in a premier match representing your club makes it extra special. Gordy made it pretty clear that he would happily trade it for his singles win but congratulations on achieving this rare and special moment! It was certainly the highlight of the day for the team.

Jason Lange played well for large parts of his afternoon round, getting to a two up lead with eight holes to play. He would not maintain that lead, however, as his match got back to square with four to play. He won the par 5, 10th to provide great hope of adding a point to the team tally but he lost the next hole and then found the penalty area on the 12th off the tee. Heading to the final hole, one down, he was unable to provide the birdie required to win the hole so it was a one down loss for Jason. Phill was not able to give me too much good news when updates were asked for as he slowly fell behind in his match. When he was four down with four to play, he would win the next hole (the par 5, 10th) and follow it up with another win on the 11th to provide hope of a late surge to scramble half a point. Unfortunately, however, his comeback ended on the penultimate hole as he went down to a 3/1 loss.

Our next pair of Rob Blackett and Sam Forrester were providing the most promising updates throughout the afternoon. Both remained up in their matches as they completed the first 10 holes. Rob was one up and Sam two at that point. Sam was ultimately too strong for his opponent, increasing his lead to as much as four up before finishing his match off with a solid 3/2 win. Great to see Sam getting his first singles win for the season and here’s hoping he takes that form and confidence into the last two rounds of Otaki Cup and, being his partner, the first round of the Baker Four Ball as well! Unfortunately, the tide turned a little for Rob down the stretch. He would finish his match by losing five of the last six holes played to fall to a 4/2 loss.

Big-hitting Perry Hayman was too strong for Jamie Frew on this day. Jamie fought hard to stay with him early on, only being one down after six holes despite losing the first two. The tipping point was when his opponent made a tricky downhill putt for birdie on the par 3, 3rd before Jamie’s shorter birdie putt agonisingly slid past the hole. He would struggle to come back from that as he fell to a 6/5 loss.

Playing partner, Dean Gray was having a great battle with the wiley Adam Church. It was tight throughout with Dean being all square or one down at every update I received. Coming off a recent bout of COVID himself, Dean was struggling physically as he played the final nine holes. I am sure he was very appreciative of Tony Rowntree’s efforts to push his bag for him at this stage. The extra support allowed Dean to not only stay in the match but put himself in a position to win it. When Dean was still one down with three to play, he tapped in for par, forcing his opponent to make a tricky 12-footer to halve the hole. He made it though, damn it! Doing his best to win the penultimate hole, Dean found himself in the right trees on the par 4, 12th. He was not able to recover from here, conceding the hole and recording a 2/1 loss. A great battle though, despite his fatigue.

So the final result was a 12 – 3 loss to Judgeford. Always a difficult pill to swallow but at least we were able to head to the clubhouse and help Gordy celebrate his ace from earlier in the day! We now look forward to hosting the Otaki Cup teams at Masterton on Saturday, March 25th. The boys are giving their best despite some tough defeats recently and I am sure they would greatly appreciate the club’s support as we take on Shandon on our home course. Come on out and get behind your team!

Nathan Frew, Co-Manager

“Yes boys”, what a result! After a 13 – 2 loss last week, the lads needed this. 14 – 1 against a team that came over here with high hopes of taking away significant points was as good as it gets.

While my recent reports may have kept team members a little tight-lipped about the goings on out on the course, the best summary of events I can muster follows.

The team were excited to welcome debutants Cliff Cleary and Jock Cameron to the fore. The pair led the team out and there was no doubt that both were going to do everything they could to bring points home for the team. Jock’s tee shot on the first was testament to that. I doubt there was a better one played for the rest of the day!

Cliff and Jock combined well to secure a half in the fourball and, despite a bit of a hiccup on the 18th, Jock was also able to secure a half in his singles match on debut. Awesome effort Jock and big ups to Phil Tuoro for coming out as support and caddying for Jock. True club spirit on display there!

Cliff played well throughout his round and went one better with a 2/1 win in his match. What an impressive start! Two from three possible points from the first group out is always a great way to get things started. This pairing really set the tone for the rest of the day. Bloody good effort fellas!

Conrad Shanly and Geoff Masters worked well together and outclassed their opponents, finishing all three matches in our favour on the 15th green. This experienced pairing were always in control of their matches and gave very little to their opponents in terms of offering any sniff of a comeback. Great result and a well-deserved early lunch!

John Ryan and Nathan Frew paired up for the first time and with both being “faders” of the ball, there was a sense they may work well together. When, on the tenth tee, JR’s opponent made a comment about how his “fade” may not suit a tree-lined Royal Wellington course, JR’s competitive focus went up a notch. This combined with the fact that Club Captain, Sam Forrester, turned up to push his bag on the back nine, meant a victory was as good as banked. A 2/1 win was the final result for JR as he calmly rolled his birdie putt to dead on the 17th to not only secure his singles match but the four ball as well! Nice work!

Nathan didn’t have the same success on the17th with a disappointing bogey, meaning he would take the long walk to the 18th tee with a one up lead and a serious dose of the “putting yips”. An audible chuckle from Club Captain, Sam Forrester, when Nathan missed a very short putt to win the 15th hole didn’t help matters! However, Nathan played the 18th very well to secure a birdie and a 2 up win under the watchful eye of experienced club man, Kevin MacKay and his granddaughter. With Kevin’s granddaughter present, Nathan did have to moderate his language as he approached his final few “tense” shots but it was great to have the support.

Simon Buckley returned to the fray after missing last week and made it very clear that he was happy to be teaming up with long-time club mate Gavin Harris. Being the group ahead of this pair, I was privileged to witness an outstanding first hole from both. Gav stuck his second to around 6 feet and Buckles rolled in a down-hill slider for birdie before Gav rolled in his eagle putt to win the hole in all three of their matches. Outstanding and inspiring! Nathan and JR would go on to win the hole in all three of their matches on the second after witnessing that!

The first hole set the tone for Buckles and Gav. They both went on to dominate their opponents with Gav securing a 6/5 win, Buckles 5/3 and a 5/3 win in their fourball. Nice work guys and what a pairing to have in the Division 2 ‘top order’.

Jason Paku was elevated up the order to team up with team captain, Brent Mackenzie. Paku would utilise his course knowledge to work his way to a 5/4 win before going on to support Brent in the four ball format. Nice work Jason! Brent was in a tighter tussle but his talent and experience allowed him to take a one up lead to the 18th with the four ball match sitting at the same margin. When Brent’s second left him on the mound short and right of the green, both the four ball and his singles match hung in the balance. It seemed that onlooking team mate Nathan Frew was more confident than Brent himself, that he would make up-and-down for birdie but the birdie was delivered. Clutch from the team captain to secure the final two points to finish off the 14 – 1 victory!

Well-earned refreshments followed on a beautiful day at the course. While our Division 7 and 9 teams didn’t quite have the same success, it was great to have all three teams hosting on the same day. Also great to see Premier players Sam Forrester, Phil Tuoro and Jamie Frew out caddying for players during the day. Much appreciated fellas and you are setting a great example of what club spirit really means!

While some club members were a little annoyed at the boisterous nature of our celebrations at the picnic tables, I think they were well-deserved!

Let’s use this result to kick-start our run home fellas! Looking forward to next Saturday when we host Otaki. Remembering what they did to us over there at the start of the season should be all the motivation we need to do everything we can to secure another good result!

Nathan Frew

Oh what could have been! With six matches ending as one down losses, the 13 – 2 defeat was not a true reflection of how competitive we were on the day. A one up victory to David Cook was as good as it got for us with the other point coming from halves from Phillip Rutene and Kirk Collins.

Arriving nice and early gave us plenty of time for a decent warm up and some of the ball striking on the range was exceptional! Unfortunately, the 25 minute delay on our starting tee, the tenth, saw the team cool down as we waited for groups to go through that had taken more than two and a half hours to play their first nine holes!

The experienced pairing of Geoff Masters and Phillip Rutene finally got things underway for us and Geoff rocketed out to an early three up lead. His opponent took a while to get things going but once he did, Geoff soon realised he was in a tough battle. He did his best, but his opponent played well as he went about eating into Geoff’s early lead. Phil was in a tight match of his own throughout the day and as a pair, he and Geoff were always slightly on the back foot in their fourball match. They lost the fourball 3/2 but both singles matches went to the last hole with everything to play for. As mentioned earlier, Phil earned a hard-fought half but Geoff would be the first to register one of those heart-breaking one down losses.

David Cook spent quite a bit of time unsuccessfully searching for his opponents ball throughout his round but he and playing partner Geoff McKay worked well together as they both found themselves in tight matches. All three of this groups’ matches hung in the balance as they stepped onto the ninth tee, our finishing hole for the day. Making sure he didn’t miss to the right where it is dead, Geoff’s tee shot went left and narrowly missed hitting teammate John Ryan as he was preparing to hit his tee shot on the previous hole. Geoff still had a look at the green but he was a long way out. Cooky did miss slightly right meaning he did not have a clear shot to the green but he showed great composure and course management to do what was needed to secure his one up win. Nice work Cooky! Unfortunately, Geoff’s match went the other way, as did the pair’s fourball. Add another two one down losses to the tally!

Jason Paku and John Ryan traded wins and losses with their opponents throughout the round as more close matches ensued. While Jason fell behind in his match throughout the second nine, John’s remained close, as did the fourball. Jason would fall to a 3/2 loss and the pair could only keep the fourball alive for one more hole, losing that 2/1. With John’s match going all the way to the last, he would be yet another to suffer the dreaded one down loss. A great effort though.

The team very much appreciated Kirk Collins answering the call as a last-minute replacement and with Kirk coming off a recent four under par round at this course, playing partner Nathan Frew didn’t think he was going to have to worry too much about the fourball side of things. Unfortunately, both fell behind through a mixture of good play from their opponents, a few silly mistakes and, in Kirk’s case, some unlucky bounces leaving him with tree trouble. An impressive par save on the 18th from Nathan was enough to get his match to two down and the fourball back to one down. Kirk was also one down at this point and both players felt the need for a quick refreshment break before making the walk to the first tee. Feeling refreshed and in a positive state of mind, both would lose the next hole! Kirk would lose the next as well but then the comebacks began to take shape. Kirk would win three in a row and when Nathan’s 58 foot eagle putt dropped on the par 5, 5th, Nathan was one down, Kirk one up and the pair were one down in the fourball. Kirk’s opponent irritatingly made two lengthy puts on holes seven and eight to keep BFHGC one up in the fourball heading to the last. At the same point, Nathan was all square and Kirk one up. Then the “ninth hole wobbles” struck again. Both bogeyed to lose the hole, resulting in the pair only walking away with the half point earned by Kirk.

Team Captain Brent Mackenzie won the first hole with a bogey and based on the way his opponent played the first few holes, he wondered if he had drawn a “sacrificial lamb” at the top of the order. As it turns out, his initial impressions were inaccurate and when Brent went to pull his nine iron on the second hole (the par 3, 11th) to realise he had left it at home, the bad omens were circling. It seems Brent’s daughter had been playing around with the club earlier in the week and only returned it next to Brent’s bag rather than in it. If only she had played around with his driver instead, things may have worked out better for Brent! He wasn’t happy with how he was playing, later telling the team that he was all over the place off the tee with driver and as the team watched him walking the last hole, we realised the only hope of adding to the dismal points tally rested with his playing partner Peter Jackson. Brent lost 2/1 and the pair lost the fourball by the same margin.

Jacko’s form returned after being disappointed with his efforts in the previous round. His match was tight all the way and even though he kept a clean card for the second nine, his opponent did enough to take a one up lead to the final hole. There were high hopes that Jacko could buck the trend of how things had gone for the team on this hole previously but when his approach missed the green to the left, the chances of him winning the hole to halve his match were all but gone. Jacko still wanted to see his opponents putt from 10 feet even though he had three putts to win the match. While this provided some amusement for those of us watching, we ultimately witnessed one more one down loss.

We did our best to drown our sorrows on the van ride home, some more than others, and even though we suffered a heavy loss, there was great team spirit on display. Brent’s driving of the van was about as questionable as his driving off the tee, resulting in multiple complaints from the back seat! Brent struggled to hit most of the very large greens at BFHGC but he demonstrated laser-like accuracy when it came to finding even the smallest of potholes! Seriously though, thanks to Brent for driving and organising the van pick up and drop-off. It is much appreciated by the team.

Back home this coming Saturday to take on RWGC. Looking forward to a great day at the club with all three of our 18 hole interclub teams playing home matches. Lets get some W’s!

Nathan Frew

“We got pumped” was the best way the lads could sum up our day as we drove home over the Rimutaka’s in heavy rain on Saturday evening! The 11.5 – 3.5 final result is evidence of this statement being very accurate.

Winners of the 2022 Otaki Cup, BFHGC were always going to be a tough opponent and, at times, we just have to accept that results like this can happen in a “rebuilding year” for this team. The result was certainly not indicative of a lack of effort or desire. We did our best but ultimately fell short.

For large parts of the morning session, there was belief as four of the five foursomes matches hung in the balance. Just the one match got away from us quickly with Dean Gray and Jack Forrester struggling to stay with their opponents. Losing six of the first seven holes is never the start you hope for but they finally got one back to be five down at the turn. Any signs of a comeback would end there, however, as the pair succumbed to a 6/5 loss.

Starting on the 10th hole, Rob Blackett and Simon Dew lost a couple of early holes before finding their rhythm to get their match back to square with eight to play, courtesy of an eagle on the par 5, first hole. Unfortunately, their opponents would win three of the next six to win the match 3/2.

Joel Macklin and Luke Lange once again showed great promise as a foursomes pairing, getting out to a two up lead through the turn, despite having to take an unplayable on the second hole of the day when Joel’s tee shot on the 11th found a bunker and literally disappeared under the surface!

When the match was all square with two to play, the pair showed great composure to not make any mistakes but ultimately lost the match one down when their opponents drained a 15 foot birdie putt on the last. Bugger!

At the top of the order, another new pairing this season is also showing exciting promise. On the back of an impressive 4/2 win together in round one, three weeks ago, Sam Forrester and Jamie Frew got back to work, fighting hard against two strong opponents. Trading two wins and two losses through the first nine holes, they were square at the turn before applying some real pressure, winning holes one and four with birdies to now hold a three up lead with five to play. It was only a successful downhill 25 foot sliding putt from their opponents on the 6th hole that kept the match alive with three holes to play. Sam then hit a superb tee shot on the difficult par 3, 7th and Jamie completed the birdie by making the putt and closing out the match with another 4/2 win. The first point of the day was finally banked. Nice work fella’s!

The team was stoked to see Phil Tuoro return to the fray for the first time in the 2023 season and his putter was ‘hot’ from the outset. Unfortunately, some of Phil’s comments to me throughout the morning alluded to the fact that his other clubs were more akin to the temperature of the southerly wind blowing across the course. Jason Lange was another to be making his return to the team for the first time this season and it was great to see this newly formed pairing in a tight tussle with their opponents. One down through five holes and the same at the turn, they showed their fight to get it back to all square with two to play. Unfortunately, Phil’s tee shot found the internal out-of-bounds on the par 5, 8th and despite their best efforts to scramble a half, they would lose the hole to be one down going to the last, the par 3, 9th hole. Langer hit a solid tee shot to get inside their opponents and when they conceded Boulcott’s par putt the scene was set for Phil’s hot putter to go to work one more time. With a decent crowd gathered (Phil does love to entertain a crowd), Phil rolled in a beautiful birdie putt from around 15 feet, later saying he was tempted to walk it in from six feet out. It never looked like missing!

It is always nice to go to lunch on the back of something so positive and despite being 3.5 – 1.5 down, there was a feeling that might be the spark to get things going for us in the afternoon. Not satisfied with this, Joel Mackilin offered a $100 bar tab for the team aftermatch if we could get 6.5 points from the afternoon session. When we were down in seven of the ten matches at the turn, some by significant margins, it was fair to say that Joel’s money was safe for today!

Some mini fight backs from our lower order were impressive to see but none could turn things around far enough to genuinely get back into their matches. Our first group out, Simon Dew and Luke Lange suffered 5/4 and 6/4 defeats respectively and with Jack Forrester and Jason Lange needing to win the short par 4, 4th to keep their matches alive, things were looking a little grim. It would get worse though. Jack Forrester’s attempts to drive the green on this hole led to a bit of a pull. A loud call of “fore” had those of us standing on the third tee block ducking for cover when the sickening sound of ball hitting flesh made me grimace! It would be Rob Blackett who took the full force of this wayward drive when it hit his back on the fly. Not what he needed when in a tight match, being all square at this point. On the bright side, the deflection put Jack’s ball back in play when it would otherwise have been toast! He didn’t make the most of this break though, failing to get up-and-down for his birdie to keep his match going. Both he and Jason would walk off the 4th green with 6/5 losses.

The middle and top order were the ones providing the hope this week, with most involved in tight tussles throughout the first nine. At number six in the line up, Rob Blacket was one down while playing partner, Jamie Frew was one up through the turn. With all four players in this group making birdie on the 4th, Rob was all square and Jamie two up with five holes to play.

Jamie played some great golf to close out his match with a well-deserved 3/2 win, finishing it with an impressive up-and-down from a spot you are not supposed to get up-and-down from on the par 3, 7th. We finally had a point banked from the afternoon session! Well done Jamie and congratulations on contributing to two of the 3.5 team points today!

An impressive response to his opponent’s outstanding tee shot still saw Rob lose the par 3, 7th hole to a tap-in birdie, meaning he was now two down with two to play. Despite his best efforts, he really needed an error from his opponent on the 8th to stay in his match but it wouldn’t come. Another great effort from Rob, particularly given he played his last six holes with a growing ‘welt’ on his back but a 2/1 loss was the final result.

There was a glimmer of hope when Phil’s opponent, PGA professional Alistair Sidford, hit his first tee shot out of bounds to start their afternoon singles match. I was told later that my comment of “gees, that’s worse than anything I’ve ever hit off this tee” was said a little louder than it perhaps should have been. Oops! To be fair, he didn’t just hit it into the carpark, his ball flew over the car park and landed in the stream! Unfortunately, a long story (and details that still make my mind boggle) later, Phil walked off the hole with a 3-putt triple bogey and a loss! He and Sam would be three down and four down respectively at the turn. With two quality opponents, it was always going to be tough to get back into these matches from here and this would prove to be the case. Sam went down to a 6/4 loss and Phil 3/2.

Our top pair of Dean Gray and Joel Macklin were faring better, both being one up at the turn. Joel’s match remained tight throughout the second nine but Dean lost a bit of momentum, getting to three down with three to play. When Dean’s opponent tried to do too much in his attempts to scramble a par on the par 3, 7th, a “hosel rocket” that just about collected his team mate, gave us hope that Dean might be able to save half a point. Unfortunately, his match would finish with a 3/1 loss on the next hole.

Joel Macklin was our last hope of earning one more point for the afternoon, getting himself to a two up lead with two to play. A mistake-free par on the 8th was enough to close out his match with a 2/1 win but it still relied on his opponent’s six foot birdie putt missing. We’ll take it. Well done Joel!

Despite a disappointing result, the team still rallied to enjoy some banter and a few refreshments during the van ride home. There is great team spirit and a desire to get out there and get a result against Judgeford at Royal Wellington in two weeks time.

Nathan Frew, Co-Manager

A quick turn around saw our Watt Cup team back in action again one week after hosting the first round of the season. With Oliver Vincent now at University and Patrick Wellbrock unavailable for this match, the opportunity to introduce George Fenwick and Tama Ratima to the team was taken as we traveled to BFHGC to take on Paraparaumu. Great commitment was displayed by Tama’s family earlier in the week, arranging for his clubs to be flown into town from the flood-ravaged Castle Point area. Much appreciated, thank you.

Some early nerves were evident from our debutants which was to be expected, especially given neither of them had ever visited BFHGC before. George settled quickly after a first hole loss but it was a while before Tama could put a halt on his early hole losses. George was all square through five holes but Tama was four down and we were down by the same margin in the four ball.

George grew with confidence and went about building a lead, getting to one up at the turn and reducing Pararaumu’s lead in the four ball to just one. Tama was now five down though and could not recover from here, falling to a 7/6 defeat. A great effort nonetheless and his hole out from the bunker on the 8th was a real highlight!

George continued to apply the pressure to his opponent, getting his lead to four up at one point, before finishing his match with an impressive 3/1 victory. Brilliant result, well played! Unfortunately the four ball didn’t go our way with a 4/3 loss registered.

Jamie Frew fell victim to the fast greens in the wind early on, allowing his opponent to build a four up lead through the first six holes but he dragged his way back to be all square through 11 holes. Luke Lange returned to the venue of his recent Otaki Cup success and was all square through five holes before he put the foot down and started to build a healthy lead, getting to four up through 10 holes. He showed no sign of letting his opponent back in, finishing his singles match with a 6/5 win on the 13th green. Jamie had a good stretch of holes to get to one up in his match at the same point and the pair had got the four ball to a three up lead. Things were looking promising but the tide turned again.

Jamie’s short game woes returned through holes 15 to 17 resulting in a 2/1 loss and with Luke finding the road rather than the fairway off the tee on holes 14 and 15, the four ball lead was back to just one as they headed to the 17th tee. Luke made a clutch putt to maintain that margin on the 17th but both he and Jamie made bogey on the last to allow their opponents to sneak a half.

A 3.5 – 2.5 loss was the final result, leaving us in third place as we head to Paraparaumu in two weeks time to take on Judgeford.

Nathan Frew, Manager

Saturday, February 11 saw men’s inter club golf returning to our home course for the 2023 season. It is always good to see our teams playing at home and it was nice to be sharing the course with our Division 9 team as well. We look forward to March 11 when all three of our 18-hole teams host on the same day!

It took some time for the lead-out group to play the first hole. With ball searches, a provisional and some tree trouble all contributing to the delays! Conrad Shanly struggled to get much going on the front nine and trailed at the turn. Hopeful he could turn things around like he did in the previous round, he had a much better back nine but the damage had been done early, resulting in a 4/2 loss. Geoff Masters got ahead in his match but a strong finish from his opponent resulted in back-to-back losses on the last two holes to finish his match all square. As it turns out, this would not be the only match being decided on the last hole. With a 4/3 loss in the four ball, this pairing was only able to bank half a point to the team tally.

Nathan Frew’s heavy loss in round one did not go unnoticed by the “selection panel” who took swift action, dumping him down the order from number two to seven! Getting to three up by the turn, Nathan was feeling comfortable but he couldn’t shake his opponent or the feeling he would be dropped to Division 7 if he didn’t produce a result! With a couple of hiccups through “amen corner” his lead was back to just one up with four to play. David Cook was in a tight tussle all the way. With three to play, he was just one up and the four ball match was all square at the same point. Heading into the final hole, Nathan was one up, David was all square and Shandon was one up in the four ball. The final hole proved just as tight with multiple putts that could have changed the final match results. Unfortunately, a one up victory to Nathan was all we could muster from this pairing. With only one and half points produced from the first two groups, we were on the back foot.

Thankfully, the next pairing of Oliver Vincent and George Deans would produce a clean sweep in their matches to provide a desperately needed three points. Oliver was in control of his match throughout and won 4/3 while George had to come from behind to secure his 2/1 victory. The two combined well to earn a 3/1 win in their four ball match. Nice work lads! As Oliver now heads down south to commence his University studies, his talents will be missed, not only by this team but the Watt Cup team as well.

There were high hopes that one of our most experienced duos, Simon Buckley and Gavin Harris, would get the job done at three and four in the line up. Gavin was in a bizarre match where the first half would not be had until the 14th hole! Trading wins and losses with his opponent all this way to be all square heading to the 15th tee. Simon was in a tight match of his own but was just behind for the most part, finally suffering a 2/1 loss when he was unable to make his up-and-down on the 17th. The four ball match alluded them by the same margin. With Gavin still all square in his match, he drove to the 18th tee with hopes of securing another point for the team. A tough lie in the left rough led to him not being able to make the green in regulation but he made a clutch putt for par to force his opponent to make a four-footer for his birdie to win the hole and the match. Unfortunately for us, the putt was made, meaning Shandon took all three valuable points from this group.

Due to his unavailability for the Premiers next round, we were lucky to have the services of Gordon Reisima for this fixture, with him and Brent Mackenzie forming a strong top pairing. Brent played his usual solid golf to earn a 3/2 victory and contribute to an impressive 4/3 win in the four ball. Gordon’s match was much tighter but he held the upper hand for the vast majority of the round. Unfortunately, he fell victim to the thick rough at the back of the 17th to head to the 18th all square. After some tree trouble on the right, Gordon sunk a good par putt to force his opponent to make his birdie putt to win the final match. Unfortunately, again, the Shandon player rolled the last putt in to take the point.

The final result was an 8.5 / 6.5 loss. With a number of tight matches being decided on the last hole, I wonder if a little more team support for the last couple of groups coming home might have helped to swing things in our favour? I guess we’ll never know but it’s something to keep in mind for future matches.

The team has another home game next Saturday so will be looking to make amends by getting a first team victory on the board for the season when they take on Judgeford. All the best to those selected for this match.

Nathan Frew

What a wonderful weekend to start our interclub campaign.

With the horizontal rain and somewhat windy conditions, we were off.

Leading from the front was our duel of Benny and Ray. Ray started off in great form. His opponent remarked, “if anyone needs putting lessons, see Ray”. I understand he made them from everywhere. Great win to Ray 6/5 and a great effort to the duo for a 3/2 fourball win.

Thomas and Hamish came next with a great effort and Hamish entertaining the van on the way back with a 4/2 win and a half respectively, and also a nice 4/3 fourball win.

Steve and Gordon both came away with points. Gordon a 3.2 win and Steve with a half, and a 3/2 win in their fourball.

Simon started our slide but his partner Alan ground out a 1-up win.

Sadly our veterans, Paul and Carl did not fare as well. Paul jumped out to a 3-up lead on the turn, but his opponent decided to keep fighting. Carl left his game in the van.

A very satisfying 8/7 away win for the boys. Well Done. We are looking forward to a Home game on the 11th against Otaki.

Carl Christensen

An away trip to Judgeford was always going to be a tough task to get the season underway and so it proved that the course wasn’t the only thing to trip the team up. The van only made it as far as Solway for their 8.30 tee-off time before it had to turn around due to forgotten footwear, a necessity to play/tramp the course. Without naming names let’s hope the Pro-Am prize the repeat offender won last weekend will provide a backup pair.

Once the team got to the course further challenges were presented with the host club keen to get play underway before 8.30 and the course being wet on the surface but playing firm and fast.

Despite the lack of warm-up (and the age gap) our lead-off pair of James Crawley and Jeff Ogg gelled well to get the team off to a promising start. Jeff plotted his way around the course showing his experience to win his singles 2up and James making his course and interclub debut halved his match. The pair won their fourball to gain 2.5 points.

Unfortunately, there were only 1.5 more points to come with narrow losses being the theme of the day with home course advantage prevailing.

Matt Sale had a successful jump from Div 10 to 7 with a determined 2/1 singles win while his partner Patrick Wellbrock played well in his second Interclub game but got some unlucky breaks, which tend to happen around Judgeford, to lose on the last.

Pete Forrester chipped in with a half to cap off a day of what could have been with the worst loss being 3/2.

Despite the overall score, it was a promising start.

Peter Forrester

Despite a 12 – 3 loss away to Otaki, it was an enjoyable start to the season for the Division 2 squad. The day started predictably with the team waiting for Simon Buckley to arrive (only a few minutes late) but the van was soon loaded (poorly) and we were on our way.

Our lead-out pairing of Sean Rudman and John Ryan were stoked to have 30 minutes to warm up, something that often alluded the first groups out in their Division 10 squad last year and it was certainly better than the 4 minutes on offer to our first pairing in the Division 7 squad at Judgeford!

When his opponent birdied the first two holes to go 2 up, John was questioning whether his promotion to Division 2 had come a little early but he was able to pull those early losses back and grind out an impressive 2/1 victory to score our first point of the season (and double the half a point team score we managed in the same fixture last year). Sean also had a solid first outing but lost his match 2 down. The four ball match was all square going down the last. Unfortunately, an unmentionable shot with his approach to the last green left Sean a bit frustrated with himself after previously “flushing his irons all day”. So a 1 down result in the four ball but a commendable debut for this squad from both players. Their exceptional van-stacking skills, in preparation for traveling home, were also noted and much appreciated!

After being 4 down at the turn, Conrad Shanly went on a birdie run to turn things around and earn a hard-fought half in his singles match. He also combined well with Oliver Vincent in the four ball where the pairing earned an impressive 3/2 victory. Oliver took his singles match to the last hole but was unable to get up and down on a tricky 18th green, resulting in a 1 down loss. We thank Oliver for making himself available for this match and wish him well as he soon travels down south for his university studies.

Mike Fallon and Geoff Mckay struggled to get much going in their matches, resulting in 6/5 losses in both singles and the four ball. On a more positive note, Geoff was pleased to get a good look at the entire length of Transmission Gully, something he had been looking forward to for a while.

Simon Buckley produced some consistent golf throughout his round, taking a 1 up lead into the final hole. An unfortunate mistake on the last allowed his opponent to sneak a half but any away half is still a great result. Well done Simon! Jason Paku lost his match 4/3 and the four ball was a 2 up win to Otaki.

A first hole birdie from Nathan Frew to take a 1 up lead in his singles match and the four ball was about as good as it got for him. 4 down at the turn then losing a ball and his match 7/5 on the 13th. Brent Mackenzie played some good golf for large parts of his round but a few small mistakes is all it takes to lose to an opponent who goes bogey-free and adds three birdies in the 15 holes played. A 4/3 loss in his match and the four ball meant an early finish for the final pair. On a positive note though, they were finished in time to get back to the 18th green and support all the other groups coming in!

A big thanks to team captain Brent for driving the van and thanks to the team for embracing the idea and traveling together. As I said at the start, a positive day out despite the final result.

Nathan Frew