Tripp Isenhour has the sort of name that suggest a
golfing personality and he hopes to show a game to match at The
Hills this week.
John Henry Isenhour III will be among the group of about 70
Americans playing in the co-sanctioned New Zealand Open in
Arrowtown starting on Thursday.
He is driving from Christchurch to Queenstown this morning to
play in his first Open.
"I love Queenstown. I've been there before on vacation and
it's one of the most beautiful spots on Earth," Isenhour told
the Otago Daily Times yesterday.
"I've never seen the course but I hear it's good. I hear
there might be one or two goofy holes but for the most part
it's a good course."
Isenhour (40) finished tied for 28th at the New Zealand PGA
at Clearwater yesterday.
He ran hot and cold, opening with a 72, following with a 67
and then shooting 75-68 over the weekend.
"I thought I played well. I made a lot of birdies but I
didn't make enough in the wind on Saturday.
"Saturday is moving day and I moved in the wrong direction."
Isenhour, who is from Orlando but played college golf at
Georgia Tech before turning professional in 1990, has a
similar story to many of the Nationwide Tour golfers.
He has had four seasons on the PGA Tour (2001-02 and 2004-05)
and played in three US Opens, failing to make the cut in
2001, 2004 and 2007.
Otherwise, he's been a regular on the second-tier Nationwide
Tour, which pays little but offers the carrot of a place on
the PGA Tour to the top 25 players each season.
Isenhour said he was enjoying the down-under swing, which
included the PGA, the Moonah Classic the previous week and
the Open.
"I think it's a great deal for us. It's hard to find a place
to play with good weather in the States right now.
"The weather's been great. I suppose that's not normally like
Christchurch.
"Hopefully we have four days like this in Queenstown and
it'll be fun."
Isenhour has six professional wins four on the Nationwide
Tour plus the Trinidad Open and the Kansas Open.
He was also involved in a rather unsavoury incident in 2007
when, while being filmed for an educational video, he became
irritated by a red-shouldered hawk and hit golf balls at the
bird until one struck it in the head.
Isenhour was fined, had to donate $3000 to a wildlife
sanctuary and was required to do 40 hours of community
service.
He'll be hoping to hit eagles, not hawks, at the New Zealand
Open.
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