Generations to face off at Balmacewen this weekend

Young guns will mix with some old hands at the annual Otago matchplay at Balmacewen this weekend.

The field is not huge for the tournament but it certainly throws up the possibility of an intriguing story at the close.

Seasoned campaigners Phil Bungard, Brandon Hodgson, Ben Patston and Matt Tautari will all be hoping to play in Monday’s final.

Then there will be interest in how the young fellows perform.

Queenstown golfers Jan Ebbinge, Nico Cheifetz, Josh Harris and Ricky Kang, and Dunedin youngster Kairangi Koni, will all be eager to make a splash after helping Otago get within a whisker of the New Zealand junior interprovincial title.

"They will no doubt cause some havoc," Golf Otago chief executive Mahal Pearce said.

"They’re coming off a pretty amazing week and they will be raring to knock off some of our senior players."

Defending champion Ryan Bellamy, who beat Aluesi 2 and 1 in last year’s final, is an unlikely starter as he has been waiting to become a father for the first time.

Inia Logan, who was at No 1 for Otago at the New Zealand interprovincial last year, had stepped away from competitive golf and was focusing on body-building, Pearce said.

The men’s tournament starts with 36 holes of strokeplay qualifying today followed by the matchplay rounds.

Otago’s leading players, Sumin Kang and Yoonae Jeong, shape as the clear favourites in the women’s tournament, which has 18 holes of qualifying tomorrow.

Abby Crawford, Tracey Storer and youngster Anahera Koni will also be eager to impress ahead of the naming of Otago teams after Monday’s finals.

The traditional provincial teams tournaments follow over the coming weeks.

Otago’s men have home advantage — Balmacewen — for the South Island interprovincial next weekend, while the women are at Christchurch.

The Freyberg Masters tournament (November 6-10) is at the Poverty Bay club, and the New Zealand interprovincial (December 5-9) is at the Waikanae and Paraparaumu Beach clubs.

Golf was continuing its post-Covid resurgence, Pearce said.

"Golf is still going through the roof, and we’ve still got a lot of people playing the game.

"We’re hoping to get a few more girls playing the game but we’ve got some good young ones coming through.

"I think the sport is in good health."

There have been ructions at the top at Golf New Zealand following the departure of chief executive Dean Murphy.

Golf Otago is now under the umbrella of the national body, but Pearce said he had no comment on the issue.