Blog

2022 Kaimai Classic

Kaimai Classic in Tauranga. Great to get away and play some good courses. Been working hard on course management and had a productive practice round with a few members who were very knowledgeable and very helpful. Had a really good first round at Omanu GC. Did just about everything I wanted to do including sinking some really nice putts for a solid 67. Handy 2 shot lead heading into Sunday. Second round at Mount Manganui GC. Started with a birdie and finished with an eagle. Very happy with my round of 65, even happier that I was able to back up my 67 from the previous day. Won the tournament by 10 shots, happy days and the hard work definitely paid off.

2022 South Island U19

South island Under 19’s at the Russley GC in Christchurch this week. First year in the under 19 division. Tough course, hard and fast undulated greens. Overall, happy with most of my game this week. 73, 70, 73. Hit the ball well, putted well. I’d like 3 or 4 holes back but very proud of the 4 birdies I made in the last 7 holes to take second place. ‘Don’t ever give up. Fight all the way to the end’?????

2022 Wairarapa Open

Trust House Wairarapa Open done and dusted for 2022. Very excited to do one better than my second placing at last years event. Started really well, 6 under 65 but unfortunately couldn’t back that round up so that meant 65/70 for the day. 3 shots back of the lead. Had a plan and a goal for the final day but I didn’t pull it off. Finished in second place again. 65/70/72. Bit gutted but no time to dwell, off to Christchurch in the morning for the South Island Under 19s.

2022 Junior Quadrangle in Marton.

Good warm up for the next couple of weeks. Format is team matchplay, against Taranaki, Wellington and Manuwatu/Wanganui.
First match was against Man/Wang. I won my match comfortably 6/5. Finished 2 under par.
Next up was Wellington. One of the best matches I’ve been a part of. I won 3/2. Finished 7 under par.
Final match was against Taranaki. Won my Match 4/3. Finishing 8 under par. Unfortunately the team lost the tournament by half a point. But excited for the upcoming Wairarapa open.

2022 NZ Strokeplay

New Zealand strokeplay March 2022 in Christchurch. This is a combination of NZ amateurs and professional golfers. So very excited. I was paired up with Michael Hendry and Kerry Mountcastle for the first 2 rounds, Hendry is one of NZs top professionals so I was pretty excited. Good first round of 69 followed up with a not so good 73 was enough to make the cut easily. I followed that up with rounds of 71 and 70 for a 5 under par total. Finished up 4th place in the amateurs and 9th overall. I would love to have 3 holes back over the 4 days but overly, really really happy with the result.

Pennants 2022

Pennants finals time. Very excited to keep our unbeaten run going. We started strong and didn’t let up, ended up beating the Maraenui team 7.5 to 1.5. Wasn’t my best performance but I was in control of my match all the way through. Ended up winning 4/3 and hit a great shot into the last hole, 2 feet, to win the four ball. Very happy for the team.

Played the last round robin of pennants last weekend.
We were up against Hastings, Hawkes Bays most successful golf club. I’m up against my favorite opponent HB legend Stu Duff. Stu definately came to play and after 9 holes we were all even. 3 holes later I was 3 up and had real control over my game. Finished the match off 4/3 and had the four ball 2 holes later. Even better the team had a dominant win.

Bring on the final.

First competitive round back since contracting Covid 19. So really excited about the third round of pennants. Up against the Hawkes Bay GC this week. Happy with how I played, bumpy greens made putting difficult but still finished off my match 7/5. 4 under the card. Better still was the teams 8/1 victory, making us the only unbeaten side so far.

Second round of pennants over and done with. Got to pair up with my old mate Wilky this week. Good times. Wrapped my match up 5/4 and was 3 under the card. Unfortunately we couldn’t get the four ball but the team came through with a very close win 5/4. The team is still unbeaten after 2 rounds.

First round of Men’s Pennants this weekend. I’ve had a few little issues with my game over the last couple of tournaments so I’ve been working hard to fix them. We’ve got Maraenui first up at Hastings so I’ve been looking forward to playing NZ rep Mako Thompson. All the extra work payed off and I beat Mako 5/4 but still had to work hard to win the 4 ball which we did on the 18th hole. I finished up 7under par. Team won 6/3 so a great day all round. Can’t wait for round 2.

2022 Under 19 Junior 6’s

First ever Adidas U19 junior 6s held at Royal Wellington GC. What a amazing course and facility. I’d love one of those here in Hawkes Bay. 54 holes then the top two play off for a spot in the Australian finals. Had rounds of 71, 76 and 70 in really wet/rainy conditions. Finished 3rd place in the boys. Pretty disappointed with my week. I played a lot of great golf but made too many simple mistakes which cost me the W. Got to play golf on one of the toughest and prettiest courses that I’ve played so far and I’ll remember the positives and while I don’t really appreciate the negatives it drives me to get better.

2022 Hastings Open

Hastings open last week. Went into the tournament feeling good hoping to improve on my 3rd place finish last year.

Ended up a disappointing 6th place. Tee to green I was really happy but struggled reading the greens this week. Hit alot of good putts and had alot of lip outs but they just wouldn’t drop.
Always good to have work ons. Bring on the next tourament

2022 Horowhenua Open

One days rest then off to Levin GC to defend my title at the Horowhenua open. Wanting to test myself and see if I can back up my performance from Taupo. Honestly it was a little slow over the first ,5-6 holes but managed a respectable 4 under par to lead by 1 after the first day. Day 2, I started well, I was 3 under after the first 9 holes. I had 2 disappointing holes on the back 9 but a birdie on the 17th after driving the green was enough to take the win by 2 shots. Very happy and learnt a lot about myself and my game.