The open championship saw Ivan Karaitiana playing against Brett Sargent. Ivan Karaitiana took the lead
on the first hole and over the front nine managed to extend the margin to 3 holes. It was much closer on
the second nine but Ivan Karaitiana was able to extend the margin to 4 holes. The start of the afternoon
round saw Ivan Karaitiana take the first two holes to extend his lead to 6 holes up. Brett Sargent then
one on the third and fourth holes to get the margin back to 4 only for Ivan to take the fifth hole to
extend the margin back to 5 holes. Brett Sargent was able to trim the margin back to 3 holes behind
with five holes to go. On the fourteenth hole Brett Sargent hold a long putt to reduce the margin to 2
holes. The fifteenth hole was halved, before Brett Sargent hold another long putt on the sixteenth hole
and the match back to one down. On the seventeenth hole Brett Sargent was able to make par with the
putt for the half from Ivan Karaitiana just missing the hole and so the match was then square. The
eighteenth hole saw both players register pars and so it was down the thirty seventh hole for the final.
Brett Sargent’s shot found the fairway, while Ivan Karaitiana’s ball took a bounce which left him with a
very difficult shot to the green. Ivan Karaitiana is shot was very good, but with the shot requiring a draw
and finding the green the extra run from a draw saw the ball run of the back of the green. Brett
Sargent’s second shot found the back of the green. Ivan Karaitiana’s third shot came up just short of the
green, and when his putt slipped by the hole Brett Sargent was able to two putt to secure the win, for
back to back wins. This one was the biggest comeback in club championships in the last 30 years.
The ladies final saw Michelle Coley playing against Anita Karaitiana and the new format of and
matchplay. In the early stages Michelle Coley took the lead, and for the most part of the round holes
were swapped, and after 18 holes Michelle Coley had a lead of three up. The afternoon round seem to
follow the same pattern, with Michelle Coley coming up the winner on the fifteenth hole.
The intermediate championship saw Jeremy Harp playing against Thomas Rimene. In the early stages it
was Jeremy Harp who took the lead by two up on the eighth hole, but then Thomas Rimene with the
match back to square by winning the next two holes. The rest of the back nine saw Thomas Rimene
slowly but surely increase the lead to be four up after the first round. The second round saw Jeremy
Harp get back into the match, with scores being even after the first nine holes were completed. Thomas
Rimene produced a win on the fourteenth hole to get back into the lead, and with the win on the
fifteenth hole he had a handy two hole advantage. Both the sixteenth and seventeenth holes were
halved which gave Thomas Rimene the win by a margin of two and one.
In the Junior division Chris Wenden was playing Carl Cocks. In the early stages this was a close match but
slowly but surely Chris Wenden built up a lead and was three up after the eighteenth hole. In the second
18 holes Carl Cocks fought valiantly but he was unable to reduce the margin markedly, with the match
finishing the favour of Chris Wenden on the fifteenth hole.
The Junior B final was played over 18 holes and it was a tight battle between Martin Andrew and James
Jackson. The sixteenth hole saw James Jackson take the lead and then on the seventeenth hole was able
to produce another win over the match two and one.
The lusty cup final saw Andre Rootman playing against Shane Wilson, with the latter player managing to
take out the match two and one. The Brocket trophy final saw Adam Lenz playing Geoff Lewis, with and
Adam Lenz taking the early lead and managing to hold on for a four and three win.
Sunday saw a small number take to the field and the stableford competition. With wind and rain
prevailing parts of the day it was not surprising that the best score was the 36 points posted by Bob
Baistow, with Wayne Evans the runner up on 34 points followed by Frank Martin and Laurence Butler on
33 points. There was one hole in two scored on the day and that was by Brian Chappell.
On Tuesday the veterans group played in a stableford round. In the ladies division was Maria Lauvi who
came out on top with a score of 30 points, with Michelle Coley the runner up on 29 points followed by
Judith O’Connor on 26 points. In the nine hole division Irene Phelps came out on top with 18 points. In
the men’s division it was tight at the top with both Roger Stenton and Meki Lauvi posting scores of 38
points, with Ross Ireland taking third place on 36 points. The nearest to the pin on the sixth hole was
taken out by Meki Lauvi.
This coming weekend being labour weekend the course will be relatively quiet with members taking
advantage to play in tournaments at other clubs in the Wairarapa. The club competition on Saturday will
be a stableford round, which is also the last chance for members to state their claim in the field final of
the Mahunga points cup, with the final being played on Saturday, October 31
The club competitions on Sunday and Monday will both be Stableford rounds.