Golfers leave for Taiwan

Press, 6 September 1989, Page 72

Golfers leave for Taiwan

PA Wellington The New Zealand men’s golf team leaves for Taiwan today quietly confident of pushing favourites Japan and Australia in the Asia-Pacific amateur teams’ championship starting on September 13. “We have a good team and I’m confident we will do quite well,” the team manager and non-playing captain, Roger Brennand, said yesterday.

The team comprises Brent Paterson (Auckland), Philip Tataurangi (Waitomo), Michael Long (Hamilton) and Owen Kendall (Bay of Plenty) — all of whom are in the squad for next year’s world amateur teams’ championship at the Shirley Golf Course in Christchurch. Mr Brennand said he expected conditions at the Tamsui Golf Course in Taipei, where the teams will compete for the Nomura Trophy, to be “quite tropical” and did not think the players would be disadvantaged by the broadleafed greens. “I don’t expect too many problems. With the exception of Phil, the rest of the players have had a fair bit of experience of playing under Asian conditions,” he said. Long, who recently played in Malaysia with Paterson, secured his place in the team by winning the New Zealand trial at Shirley in July. Originally named to represent New Zealand in the world universities championship in Japan, the 20-year-old was withdrawn from that team after edging out Paterson.