The Waihi Junior Open Tournament, held on Sunday, October 6, started with cool cloudy overhead conditions that fortunately cleared later, said Waihi Golf Club member Rodger Bagshaw.

There were 38 very keen juniors, from around the Waikato, aged under 19 and divided into three sections.

Futures 18 was for players who already had an official golf handicap, and the 13 players in this division played a 18 hole Stableford competition.

This was won by Rupert Manion (Walton) with a great 41 points. Next were Isaac Casey 37, and Kobe Phillips 36, both from Waihi. 

The next division was Futures 11 where the players, after some coaching tips from Professional Allen Smith, played 11 holes.

The final group, Futures 5, received some health and safety instruction before they were off to play five holes.

Hot chips and a prizegiving concluded a successful day for everyone involved.

Waihi Club Stroke Play Champions:

The final round of the stroke play championships was completed on Saturday, and this year’s champions are -  

Men's section: Senior: Andy Roche, Intermediate: Andrew Keenan, Junior:  Craig Pooley, and Junior B: Peter Spiers.

Ladies section:  Div One: Michelle Libby, Div Two: Bev Ireland, Div Three: Desley Rosevear, Div Four: Robyn Kirby.

Veteran's Section:

On Monday morning members were saddened to learn of the passing of very long term, and popular player, and Life Member, Nan Hoggard. The Vets Section extended their sincere condolences to Bob and his family.

The day’s haggle was a pairs four ball best ball competition, where Karen Diggelmann and Rodger Bagshaw blitzed the rest of the field with 44 points.

Back in second place were Anke Hermannsdorfer and Des Crene with 41 points, and in third equal Susan Mustard dragged her partner Rob Morrison to 40 points.

Also with 40 were Di Lewis and Eddie Ruha, as well as Avon Gordon and Mark Mora.

Tuesday Nine Hole Section:

After being rained out last week the nine hole players were keen to take part in a Stableford haggle this week. In first place was John Vautier with 20 points, before a trio of Lynda Thomson, Rex Smith, and Glen Bennett on 19 points. Next on 17 points were Christine Mercer and Vak McLoughlin.

Wednesday Ladies:

This week played a nett haggle in conjunction with the stroke play championship.

Best score this week was Annette Hetherington with a nett 71, followed by Desley Rosevear and Jill Morrison on 73, with Jenny Tubman next with 74. Jenny Tubman and Annette Hetherington both scored twos, while Michelle Libby and Jill Morrison shared the Hidden Holes with 6 points each.

Thursday Men:

Rough early morning weather deterred most golfers, thus cancelling the morning haggle.

The weather cleared as the day progressed enabling a good-sized Afternoon Haggle to proceed.

Vince Jones continued his up and down scores, and this time it was an up with a winning 39 points, with a bunch of players next on 37 being Kelly Exelby, Rob Page, Bill Young (again), and Howard Anderson. On 36 were Damian Dunlop, Birthday boy Mike Rose, Logan Phillips, Mark Tomsett, and Ron Arthur.

Saturday Golf:

Both the men’s and women’s sections were playing the final round of their respective Strokeplay Championships, but the results of the days haggles were:

Ladies: the Nett Medal Haggle was another win for the very steady Susan Mustard with a nett 71, with Bev Ireland next with 73. Michelle Libby had 74, then Anke Hermannsdorfer, Chris McKenzie (Matamata), and Liz Seager (Ngahinepouri) with nett 75’s.

Morning Men: In Div. One, Andrew Keenan and Calin Samson both had 39 points, with John Libby next with 37. With 36 points were Andy Roche, David Seager (Ngahinepouri), and Allen Smith. In Div Two, Robert Eagan and Tom Rowbotham both had 37 points, with Chris Spears and Ken Purcell next with 35. Terry Mischefski and Eddie Ruha both finished with 34.

Afternoon Men: It was Murray Gutry who was the clear winner with 37 points, with Peter Spiers, Wayne Brierley, Ian Diver, Michael Hurley, and Damian Dunlop all together with 36 points. They were followed by Craig Pooley, Malcolm Coldicutt, and Eddie Evans, all with 35 points.

Rodger Bagshaw