Cook Islands represented at the Asia Pacific Golf Championship

William Howard and Kirk Tuaiti represented the Cook Islands at the 2013 Asia Pacific Golf Championship – an event Cooks representatives have taken part in for the fifth year in a row.

The duo held their own at the Nanshan International Golf club of China where the championships were held from October 24 to 27.

After a tough first round score of +10, Howard returned a +5 score giving him a 36 hole total of 15+.

This placed him 54th and in the top 60 players that made the cut.

He is the first Cook Islands player to make the cut and with scores 76, 73 for the remaining 36 holes, it placed him at 49th equal overall after 72 holes.

As of October 28, Howard and Tuaiti currently have world amateur rankings of 1040 and 4741 respectively.

Howard plays out of the Arikikapakapa golf club in Rotorua and is currently a member of the 2013 Bay of Plenty men’s training squad.

He was also a member of the BOP 2012 men’s team – winners of the inter-provincial tower tournament.

Howard is also a member of the Rarotonga Golf Club and in 2004 whilst still attending Avatea School won the Senior Club Championship at the age of 11.

Kirk Tuaiti lives in Aitutaki and is a member of the Aitutaki Golf Club.

Tuaiti was the winner of the 2013 Rarotonga open which was also the inaugural World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR) event for the Cook Islands.

Previous representatives to this tournament included Sonny Karati, James Herman, Kirk Tuaiti, Royle Brogan, Ned Howard, Haimona Browne and Daniel Webb.

Tuaiti and Howard would like to thank TAVs, Kurai Foster, Ngapoko Ngatamaine, their parents, members of the Aitutaki and Rarotonga Golf Clubs, Janene and Mellissa of Asia Pacific Golf Confederation for their assistance.

They would also like to thank Scott Bower of Scotty’s Golf Shop for kindly sponsoring the players playing outfit and everyone else for their assistance.