Golf: Honours to Otago in tournament

Brent McEwan
Brent McEwan
Otago men's golf teams had a successful weekend in the triangular tournament against Aorangi and Southland which was played over two rounds at Cromwell during the weekend.

The senior team gained two points and 15.5 games to take the honours beating Aorangi by 8 to 2 and Southland by 7.5 to 2.5.

The under-21 boys won the Lofty Page Trophy beating Aorangi by a 4 to 2 margin while only conceding one game and a-half to Southland.

Southland took the honours in the Masters (over 40) event with two wins while Otago squeaked into second place by a slender half-game margin over the South Canterbury golfers.

For the Otago seniors, Brent McEwan, Mark Brooks, Brandon Hodgson, Sean Masters, Chris Snow, and Kayne Wardell had two wins each while Daniel Elder was undefeated with a win and a-half.

The statistics indicate a dominant display but many matches were tight and it was only a solid finish on the final nine holes which led to the large team wins.

The feature match was between Otago No1 Brent McEwan and the top New Zealand amateur Vaughan McCall (Southland) yesterday morning.

After an early birdie, McCall led by one and held on to the lead throughout the front nine.

But as the game progressed, blustery winds strengthened much to the delight of McEwan, who relishes these conditions.

''I must admit I had a little smile when it got windy as it suits my style of play,'' McEwan said after the round.

Sure enough, it allowed McEwan to turn the tables on McCall and notch a narrow win on the final green.

McEwan has led the trial series and is beyond doubt Otago's leading golfer but yesterday's round was especially pleasing.

He scored a par round with 18 pars, no birdies and no bogeys, which was extraordinary in the windy conditions and playing the tough Greg Turner-designed long par three holes with their greens protected by tussock mounds.

Masters No 3 Gary Creedy was forced to withdraw from the event with injury and he was replaced by Maniototo golfer Geoff Shaw for the Sunday match.

Shaw came up against left-handed legend Paul Adams, who is celebrating 50 years of playing representative golf for Southland.

Shaw did the business on debut, winning with a hole to spare.

There are more trials to come for Otago's top golfers before an eight-man team is named but the weekend's performances are making it tough for the selection trio.

 

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