Canty women golfers made critics take note

Press, 13 May 1988, Page 22

Canty women golfers made critics take note

By

BOB SCHUMACHER

Canterbury arrived unheralded at New Plymouth last week for the Stylemaster national inter-provincial women’s golf tournament: its winning prospects were quickly dismissed by northern scribes which is par for the course.

“They hadn’t regarded us as a title contender, we received little mention,” the senior team member, Adrienne Bond, reflected this week.

By the end of the tournament, however, Canterbury was the team in the headlines. Instead of being written off, it was being written about as Canterbury surged to an emphatic win, its first for 14 years and its sixth in the history of the championship.

Unbeaten in six rounds and with individual wins from a possible 30, Canterbury was undisputed champion at Ngamotu and the overwhelming win provided a fitting farewell to the long-serving Canterbury non-playing captain, Betty Fraser, who was attending her last Stylemaser tournament in that capacity.

Several factors contributed to Canterbury’s success, according to Bond, not the least being the camaraderie among the players, a vital aspect of any team and one which has not always been present in past Canterbury teams.

“Certainly it was the best Canterbury team that I have been away with. The build-up of spirit was excellent. We decided that none of us would leave the course while one of the team was still playing.”

The assistance given by the Waitikiri professional, Peter Davis, was also extolled by Bond. “The preparation he gave us, his presence at the tournament, his quiet word of advice when needed — it all helped to keep us going.”

Bond said the team had also benefited by playing in the southern quadrangular tournament at Waimate last month. “There were no courses in Christchurch similar to Ngamotu for us to get practice but the Waimate course was more in keeping with the New Plymouth venue. Ngamotu was dry, hard and fast and it didn’t always reward the good shots. I would say it was something of a ‘trick course’ with some nasty bounces.” Canterbury’s pretournament preparations hardly had the team of Dianne Woodhouse, Liz Douglas, Bond, Sue Hamilton and Lynne-Marie Shaskey exuding confidence, although the team believed in its ability to win.

Taranaki, on its home course, was Canterbury’s first opponent and Taranaki was keen to redeem itself after a suffering a big loss in the morning. “There was a fair bit of trauma in that first round, we were pretty nervous and tentative. In fact Peter Davis commented that he had never seen five such nervous ladies. Deidre Bryant played brilliantly to beat Liz, they had five or six birdies between them in five holes, and Di never really got going against Lynn Needham. “We had to win that

match and there was a deep feeling of relief when the bottom three all won. We had a long talk with Peter Davis that night and the next morning we came out with a different attitude — we were looking at nothing less than five individual wins from each contest,” Bond said.

Manawatu - Wanganui was the first team to succumb to a revitalised Canterbury team. It failed to win a match as Woodhouse overcome a big deficit to win her first game at No. 1, and Douglas won the first eight holes against the unfortunate Ana Brabyn. South Canterbury, a shock 4-1 victor against Canterbury last year, fell by the same score. “Before playing South Canterbury last year we had drawn with the titleholder, Bay of PlentyThames Valley, and were still on a high. This year we made no mistake with four of us winning well and Liz losing to Sue Hutchins, a golfer for whom I have the utmost respect,” Bond said. The expected tough match with Otago did not eventuate, Canterbury winning, 4-1, although both Woodhouse and Douglas went to the eighteenth before succeeding, 2 up. Woodhouse again came from behind to beat the former international, Jan Scandrett, but Shaskey had her first reverse, losing to the underrated Diane Gillett.

Last year Canterbury had caused tongues to wag when it overcame the fancied Auckland — “for the first time I could recall” — but this year Bond and her team-mates

left nothing to chance as they whitewashed the northern team. With the other teams all meeting setbacks, Canterbury was virtually assured of the Stylemaster Trophy before the one round on the final day.

“We knew we had it wrapped up but we had to play Tasman, which was third last year, and as a matter of pride we wanted to win that last game. It was almost anticlimatic when Sue won handsomely, and we knew we had it in the bag when Lynne squared her match at 16 and won 17 to be 1 up playing the last.” Canterbury finished stylishly, _ Woodhouse again giving her opponent, the New Zealand representative, Debbie Smith, a good start but beating her home, Bond recording her sixth straight win, and only Douglas relaxing a shade early, losing 17 and 18 with three-putts to end all square against the talented junior, Leanne Phillips.

Hamilton, who forced her way into the team at the eleventh hour, and Bond had exceptional tournaments, both winning all matches (Bond’s previous best was four wins and two halves), and Woodhouse justified her inclusion at No. 1 with five wins. Shaskey,. also with five wins, was a popular as well as a proficient player.

Understandably, Bond, who was playing in her fourteenth national teams’ championship (the first five for South Canterbury), was thrilled with her form.

“The No. 3 is a very important position in the balance of the team and I

knew it was going to be hard to take over Jeannette Ross’s shoes. I’ll be able to tell her I filled her size 10s very well!”

Bond, runner-up in the New Zeland amateur championship last November, attributes a complete break from the game over Christmas and through January as the reason for her holding her form for the last three months. “I came back strong mentally.”

She is, however, disappointed that Canterbury did not pursue the motivational courses run by Paul Carpinter and hoped that they would be resumed next season.

"I’m sure those who have done the course have benefited from it. The motivational side is still instilled in me. Whereas I might get in a situation whereby I might not have coped three or four years ago I can approach such occurrences without panicking. You’re never too old to learn in golf and I’m still learning after 30-odd years.”

With a keen edge to competition in Canterbury golf, Bond considers the province will remain a strong force in future years. “Everyone is keen at present, the juniors are coming on with, players such as Kerrin Starr, Kerry Williams and Toni Batey wanting to prove themselves and earn a place in the team.”

Bond said that the sponsor’s representative, Doug McCaul, had an especially wide grin when he presented the Stylemaster Trophy to the Canterbury team. The company and Mr McCaul are both based in Christchurch.