John Williamson leads golf qualifiers

Press, 21 April 1984, Page 64

John Williamson leads golf qualifiers

By

BOB SCHUMACHER

It is always an honour to lead the senior qualifiers for the Canterbury P.G.F. amateur 'golf championship — that distinction went to John Williamson after 36 holes of stroke play at Shirley yesterday. Williamson, a national representative and leading Canterbury player for many years, ensured that there were no half measures to his success. He was ahead after 18 holes by one stroke after a par round of 73 and repulsed all challengers with an excellent 71 in the afternoon.

His total of 144 left him four shots clear of his Canterbury and Christchurch club team-mate, John Sanders, whose determination and skills were again evident over the two rounds. Williamson, not unexpectedly, was delighted with the way in which he was hitting the ball, and he is in the right frame of mind to gain his first match-play title after several near misses. Williamson’s two very good scores were achieved without undue strain. His accurate and powerful tee shots set him up for com-

fortable approaches and he played his shots to the greens with assuredness. He putted with control and confidence on good greens that were deceptively fast. In the ’ morning round, Williamson birdied the fourth and had a birdie two at the short eleventh. A penalty shot at the seventh cost him his first stroke and he had a one-over at the difficult twelfth. They were his only errors. His form was sustained in the afternoon. He missed a green for the first time at the seventh, but still made

par, and then he really hit a purple patch; two putts at the ninth gave him a birdie and he birdied the next two, with a long putt at 11, a smaller one at 12. He almost had birdies at 15 and 16, but stayed threeunder until the seventeenth when he admitted to making a wrong club choice and left his approach short. It cost him a shot, but it was still a tremendous round. Many players were content to play within themselves, making certain that they qualified in the top 16. Mark Street, the defending- champion, and Geoff Saunders, twice the cham-

pion and the beaten finalist last year, finished mid-field among the qualifiers, but are certain to produce more of their considerable talents when the serious business of match play starts this morning. Ray Finlay, whose 71 in the morning was the best score in any grade, was the top intermediate qualifier on 150, and Steve Mitchell (77, 81) led the junior qualifiers. QUALIFIERS 144—J. N. Williamson, 73, 71. 148—J. B. Sanders, 75, 73. 150—R. M. Vincent, ®, 72; J. W. A. Whitaker, 76, 7< M. G. Brown. 74. 76.

151— P. F. Minifie, 74, 77. 152— K. L. Frazier, 76, 76. 153— M. E. Street, 78, 75; W. I. Tucker, 77, 76. 155— N. S. Reid, 78, 77. 156— G. C. Saunders, 76, 80. 158— J. R. Gantley, 80 78; J. Louwman, 80, 78. 159— S. L. Greenall, 76, 83. 160— P. J. Heasley, 83, 77; J. D. Crawford-Smith, 83, 77. G. M. Gunn (83. 77), R. P. Bell (76, 84), K. A. Lake (80, 80) and R. L. Start (74, 86) all finished on 160 but were eliminated on a count-back. The draw for the match play today is: Williamson v. Craw-ford-Smith; Tucker v. Street; Brown v. Gantley, Louwman v. Whitaker, Vincent v. Greenall; Saunders v, Minifie; Frazier v. Reid; Heasley v Sanders.