Maori golfers hit off

Press, 22 August 1978, Page 28

Maori golfers hit off

Maori golfers in quantity and quality have congregated in Christchurch this week for one of the biggest annual golf tournaments in the country. For the first time in its 12-year-old history, the New Zealand Maoris tournament will be held in the South Island, and the Templeton and Coringa courses are being taxed to their limits by the 350 players. Representatives have come from the Chatham Islands, Fiji and Australia as well as throughout New Zealand. About 90 golfers are on handicaps of seven or under and almost 100 women have entered.

Qualifying rounds for the match-play championship started yesterday and will

continue today. One of the best scores achieved in a practice round on Sunday was an unofficial women’s course record of 73 by an Auckland representative, Polly King. Both the men’s and women’s defending champions will be out to retain their titles. Rina Hokianga, a Hawke’s Bay-Poverty Bay Russell Grace representative, is defending the women’s championship and Tom Marsh (Wanganui) is seeking to retain his title. One of the identities of the tournament is Tom Maniapoto (Te Awamutu), a 69-year-old who still plays to a seven handicap. Match play begins tomorrow, with the finals on Friday.