Upsets in Woodward golf

Press, 9 June 1980, Page 3

Upsets in Woodward golf

By

R. T. BRITTENDEN

The fourth round of the Woodward Cup was not expected to produce much drama, with the top four teams drawn against the next four. But there were upsets in individual matches and in the defeat of Coringa, which had been second equal, by Harewood, which had occu ’ d eighth place. Harewood won by 5 games to 21 but it should have been closer than that. The Coringa number two, Nick Mclvor, and its seventh player, Peter Heasley, will not readily forget the tiny putts they missed on the last green. Harewood had three of its points from the Street nrothers and a r h from John Dixon who, at the end of the day, was one of only three players with four wins in the , competition. The others are Des Turner and Wayne Tucker, both of Christchurch. However -Murray Wright (Avondale) and John Prebble (Templeton) have not yet been beaten. Two Freyberg players lost by substantial margins: Simon Robinson (Christchurch) was beaten by Fred Poskitt (Waimairi Beach) and Murray Brown (Wait-

ikiri) succumbed to lan Ross (North Canterbury). Waitikiri held its place at the top of the table, with Christchurch a close second, but both sides had some anxious moments before they finished with what looked like convincing margins. Ross, whose father was a noted greenkeeper at Templeton years ago, may have learned something by caddying for Brown at last year’s Freyberg Rosebowl tournament. His solid golf gave him a distinct advantage over Brown, whose golf was below the quality he has shown in recent months. Close to home, Waitikiri was still in difficulty. Gary Maw was well placed and Len McKenzie, only one over the card, had won his match. But Bob Farrant was one down with three to play, Mike Whitu had been beaten, Jeff McCormick was two up, and C-vin Salt had an advantage of only one. Malcolm Fry, level with the card, had his match won. D. Salt held on safely, however, and Farrant took the last three holes from Harley Henderson with pars. Christchurch also had its problems. Robinson, who had not had any golf since the previous Woodward Cup found, was always struggling against the capable Poskitt. John Williamson trailed nearly all the way against Don Pickering and three holes from home Tony Vincent was no better than square, Turner was one down, and lan Dobson was only one up. Pickering played good golf against Turner .but went down to a fine finish from the former Canterbury rep-

resentative. Pickering had played to the card but Turner birdied 16 to square the match and ’./on when Pickering three-putted at 18. Williamson also had a stern struggle against Digby Briggs, who had not been beaten in the earlier rounds. Although not a fluent swinger, Briggs mad? many excellent shots, particularly when pitching, and he had Williamson two down at the turn. Willi:, mon was then two over.

Williamson Lad a great second half, winning, 10, 11, and 14, and tak’ng the 477 m sixteenth with a putt of 3m for a birdie after being in a greenside bunker. Donald Hope made a great start for Christchurch, being four up and one under after six holes, and Tony Vincent offered evidence of a fine future in lop golf. Vincent’s brother, Ricky (Avondale), went down to Joe Gantley (Templeton) as the bottom teams halved their match to win their first competition half-points. It was not outstanding golf but Gantley made fewer mistakes on the greens than Vincent.

This match hinged on the second players. John Prebble was one pp on Chris Barry but was short with;, his approach and left his chip nearly 3m short. Barry putted past the hole but was down from under Im when Prebble failed to save his par. Points, with individual games won are: Waitikiri 4 (224), Christchurch 3J (224), Rus'sley 3 (1 . Coringa 2| (15|), Harewood 2 (15), Central Canterbury 1| (144), Waimairi Beach 1| (12J),

North Canterbury 1 (12), Avondale J Templeton i (12).

Results: Waitikiri 6, North Canterbury 2

M. G. Brown lost to 1. Ross. 4 and 3; G. L. Maw beat C. Smale. 4 and 2; L. McKenzie beat S. Hill, 4 and 3; R. M. Farrant beat H. Henderson, 2 up; M. Fry beat M. Stanley, 5 and 4; G. McCarthy beat L. Kennedy. 3 and 1; M. White lost to N. Robertson, 4 and 3; G. Scott beat R. Rainey, 2 up. Russley 6, Central Canterbury 2

P. Atkinson beat R. W. Pirie, 2 up; N. M. Griffiths beat G. M. Gunn, 5 and 3; A. K. Hynd beat J. Davis, 2 and 1; R. Sisson beat S. T. Parker. 5 and 3; P. McDonald lost to I. Bourke. 2 and 1; J. Bierwith lost to C. H. Nairn, 3 and 1; K. Thompson beat R. Rennell, 1 up; G. Black beat E. H. Richards, 2 and 1.

Templeton 4, Avondale 4 J. Gantlev beat R. Vincent, 3 and 2; J. Prebble halved with C. Barry; F. Hobbs beat J. Hanton, 3 and 2; B. Smythe lost to A. Lawford-Smith, 5 and 4; G. Kirk beat F. W. Roberts, 3 and 2; M. Roche lost to M. Wright. 2 and 1; R. Newburn lost to B. Trangmar, 2 and 1; N. Hilton halved with J. Brown.

Christchurch 61, Waimairi 11 S. S. Robinson lost to F. Poskitt, 3 and 2; J. Williamson beat D. Briggs, 2 and 1; D. Turner beat D. Pickering. 1 up; J. Parlane beat N. Shackley, 4 and 3: W I. Tucker beat P. Magee. 5 and 4; T. Dobson beat J. Ellerm, 2 up; D. R. Hope beat S. Greenall, 4 and 2; A. Vincent halved with J. Williams.

Harewood 51, Coringa 21 M. Street beat B. Paterson, 5 and 3; S. Street beat N. Mclvor. 1 up; P. Shearer beat P. E. Neal, 5 and 4; B. Street beat J. Smale. 2 and 1; D. Marks lost to E. Paterson. 5 and 4; J. Dixon beat M. Ferguson, 1 up; B. Smith beat M. Ferguson, 1 up; B. Smith halved with P. Heasley; N. Horgan lost to A. McClelland, 2 down. BLANK CUP Waimairi Beach 71, Rawhlti }, Coringa 4. Kaiapoi 4, ’Waitikiri 6. Avondale 2, Harewood s}, Christchurch 21, Templeton 41, Russley 31. SIMON CUP McLean’s Island 4, Russley 4, Aondale 6, Coringa 2, Templeton 41, Harewood 31, Windsor 41, Waimairi Beach 31.