Hartstone again wins Easter golf, on 290

Press, Volume CXV, Issue 33805, 31 March 1975, Page 3

Hartstone again wins Easter golf, on 290

(By

KEVIN TUTTY

For the Canterbury Freyberg Rose Bowl golfer, Paul

I lartstone, 290 is a lucky Easter number. 1 le won the Christj church club’s Easter tournament yesterday with a four-round total of 290—for the second successive year.

For the first three rounds, the tournament was led by another Can- ; terbury representative, , Joe Whitaker, who at the start of the final round led Hartstone by two strokes. It was an eventful final 1 ■round. While Whitaker' , succumbed with a 77 to finish fourth equal. Hartstone and Gary Maw revelled j in the mild conditions. Maw had a five-under-par . 67. which would have 1 i bettered the amateur course ' record by three strokes, but because part of the course 'was still affected by the heavy rain of March 12, placing was allowed, and thus they record of 70 held by Geoff!' Saunders still stands. Maw was unlucky not to! card a 66. A birdie putt on the last green slipped past? the hole by a fraction of an' inch. Maw was fifth at the start', of the last round and finished ‘ , second — but there was no j i chance of him catching Hartstone, who won by five ! strokes. BIRDIES 1 After the first three holes < in the afternoon, it seemed ; that Hartstone, too, was ] [heading for a score sub- ’ i stantially under par. He 1 ( reeled off birdies on the first ; three holes and again on the ninth, but had the mis-11 : fortune to drop strokes on !1 the eighth and ninth holes. ;< Methodical play brought t him three further birdies on I the second nine — the lastii from 15ft on the eighteenth' green— but a lapse at the seventeenth prevented him, too. from finishing on a 67. Maw’s last-round card i showed remarkable con- t

sistency, and his effort over the two days must make him a strong contender for the Canterbury Freyberg team to play in the national tournament at Wanganui in May. His chief rivals are Dennis

Beggs and Gary Urlwin. Urlwin finished sixth yesterday, nine strokes behind Maw, and Beggs was even further back. Maw had the satisfaction of beating three other members of last year’s Freyberg team — Saunders, Whitaker, and the No. 1 in that side, Bruce Taylor. THIRTEENTH UNLUCKY 1 The three par-fives on the first nine were birdied by Maw yesterday afternoon.' land he reached half-way (three under par. He birdied the twelfth. but the thirteenth was his unlucky, number. It was the only hole ion which he dropped a stroke: in the round. In retaliation, he rolled in a 25ft putt on the fourteenth green, and then unperturbed by a brief, but heavy, shower of rain birdied the seventeenth. Maw’s score equalled the best made on the course since it was remodelled almost three years ago. Duncan Park (Australia) and Walter Godfrey (New Zealand) scored 67s in the New . Zealand Open last December. Saunders lost his chance of being closer to Hartstone! when he had a disastrous 10 on the par-five fourth hole in the second round. Taylor began to find his form only! in the last two rounds. Leading scores were:— SENIOR 290: P. Hartstone 295: G. L. Maw. 297: G. C. Saunders, J. W. Whitaker,

303: J. M. Angus. 304. G. Urlwin. 306: B. C. Taylor. INTERMEDIATE 308: A. A. Caithness. 315; P. L. Holmes. 322: J. McCarthy, O. Zeizinger. 324: P R. Burden. 326: J. W. Crawford. 329: D. Scanlan. JUNIOR 339: N. D. Henderson. 342: P. R. Fleetwood. 343: R. Preece. 346: J. Carbines. 354: B. Lennox, M. Turnbull. ; Sams Cup (left-handers): R.j Preece. 146. j