Sweet double victory for Mark Tamuta

Press, 5 August 1985, Page 3

Sweet double victory for Mark Tamuta

By I

BOB SCHUMACHER

Mark Tamuta had double cause to celebrate last evening after winning the Canterbury under-21 golf title by two strokes at Templeton yesterday. Victory in the event was especially sweet for Tamuta, aged 17, as he was playing on his home course and, as a seven handicapper, he was hardly considered to be a leading chance before the tournament.

Soon after his victory he was accorded another honour. He was named the Canterbury Eagles Society’s junior representative, together with Susan Barrett, of Avondale, to compete in the national Eagles championship over 72 holes at Miramar on September 4 and 5. Tamuta and Richard Hurley, of Waimairi Beach, who was equal third yesterday, were chosen last year in the South Island team to contest the Commercial Union New Zealand junior tournament in Feilding. After the morning round yesterday, Tamuta, last year’s intermediate club champion at Templeton, was one of a group of four on 77 who were three strokes off the pace set by Hurley with his one-over-par round of 74. Hurley had

the chance to slip the field when he was two-under after 12 holes despite a twoover par at the tenth. But he had three one-overs on the last five holes.

It was very much a Waimairi Beach look at half way, with the left-handed Hurley one shot clear of his club-mate, Steven Priest, and another from the club, Craig Mitchell, equal third on 76 with the Avondale Woodward Cup player, Bruce Lavender.

The second round produced many good scores and half a dozen players held winning prospects not many holes from the finish, but Tamuta burst from the pack with his outstanding sub-par round of 72. What made the round even more memorable was that he had four putts on the short fifteenth and took a three-over six. Birdies at the second, seventh, eleventh and thirteenth holes had Tamuta four-

under and looking at a spectacular score. Then came a lapse and a one-over at 14 before his calamitous situation at 15. He three-putted from 2m after lipping out with his first and missing the return “because of a rush of blood.” But Tamuta calmed himself with a birdie at 16 and played soundly for pars on the last two holes.

Mitchell, who had won the Templeton Summer Open earlier this year, played with skill and sound judgment in two very steady rounds which gave him second ahead of Hurley, Brett Tucker and Mark Elley.

Elley, one of the favourites, had birdie putts lip the hole at 11 and 12, before birdieing 13 and 14. He had a relatively easy putt for another birdie at 16, but that missed and he let two more shots slip away on the closing holes. Tucker holed a couple of

10m birdie putts to make a strong bid after 27 holes, but he dropped shots near the finish and Hurley lost his chance with a bad patch in the middle of his afternoon round. The under-17 title was won by the Kaiapoi golfer, Matthew Brownlee. He was the only player in his age group to break 80 in both rounds. Leading scores.— Under-21 149 - M. Tamuta, 77, 72. 151 - C. Mitchell, 76, 75. 152 - M. E. Elley, 78, 74; R. L. Hurley, 74, 78; B. Tucker, 77, 75. 154 - J. Hazeldine, 79, 75. 155 - S. Priest, 75, 80; S. Charles, 77, 78; A. Carver, 81, 74; B. D. Lavender, 76, 79; D. J. O’Keefe, 81, 74. 157 - J. Sincock, 80, 77. Under-17 156 — M. Brownlee, 77, 79. 158 — C. J. Pemberton, 82, 76. 163 — R. Harris, 82, 81. 164 - D. Quinn, 79, 85. 165 - K. Mariu, 80, 85. 169 - L. Stewart, 86, 83.