Canty wins golf by one stroke

Press, 15 March 1982, Page 3

Canty wins golf by one stroke

PA - Invercargill The last putt of the tournament clinched victory for Canterbury in the fifth annual Southland amateur golf invitational near Invercargill, last evening. Canterbury held a’ nine- ' stroke ' lead over Waikato going into the final? round yesterday afternoon, and was still eight shots ahead with nine '■■ holes to play. -But the margin had been Whittled down to a solitary stroke as the two number one players, John Williamson (Canterbury) and Colin Taylor (Waikato), stood on the eighteenth tee. Taylor was' safely on the green for -two, but about 9m short of the pin, while Williamson missed the green and was pin high, faced with a tricky little chip over a mound. His chip was a little too strong and ran 4m or so past the hole. Taylor's birdie

putt stopped about 10cm short of the hole, and the pressure was then all on Williamson to can his putt to avoid the two teams going into a three-hole playoff. But he never looked like missing, and the victory was Canterbury’s by one stroke. It was a memorable weekend for Williamson, as he also won the Air New Zealand Cup for the top individual of the tournament, which is widely regarded as a New Zealand teams stroke play championship. Hissfourround total of 289 was one over par, and gave him the individual honours by two strokes over Taylor and the 19-year-old- Southland No. ‘ 1, Gary Radka. Canterbury and Waikato were the two leaders throughout the 72-hole tournament, and none of the 13 other representative teams ever really looked like

offering them a serious challenge. Waikato led by three strokes after the first round on Saturday morning, and was two shots clear at the halfway stage. Canterbury, however, had moved one stroke ahead after the first nine holes in the third round this morning and by the end of the round had extended its lead to nine strokes. It looked to be headed for a comfortable victory until Waikato made its late charge. Final team placings, with the worst score dropped in each round, were: Canterbury, 1200, 1; Waikato, 1201, 2; Auckland, 1211, 3; Southland, 1213, 4; Wellington, 1219, 5; Bay of Plenty. 1221, 6; Manawatu-Wanganui. 1222, 7; Otago, 1229, 8; Tasman, 1244, 9; Hawke's Bay, 1257, 10: Taranaki, 1259, 11; Mid-South Canterbury, 1264. 12; New Zealand women’s team. 1268, 13; Northland. 1269, 14; Poverty Bay-East Coast, 1331, 15.