Herman, Kenning triumph in Palm Grove tournament

The final round of the Palm Grove Golf Tournament last Saturday saw most of the second round leaders maintain their positions, but there were some good fight-backs during the day.

In the senior men’s division, James Herman (212) extended his lead with the round of the day of 70 off the stick and win first prize, with Ned Howard (218) coming in second overall.

Maara Kenning (243) extended her lead in the senior ladies’ by one stroke to gain first place ahead of Tuaine Marsters (249), with Margaret Taio not having a good day and slipping back in the field.

For the intermediate men, first place went to Bruce Manuela (241) who improved his lead over second place getter Henry R Henry (245).

Tai Raina and Jackie Urlich both carded the same score on the day so the placing remained the same for the intermediate ladies – first Tai Raina (275) and second Jackie Urlich (276).

For the junior A men, Campbell Hocking could not capitalise on his great round of the preceding week and in fact he had a shocker, as did his two closest rivals.

This left the field open for Phil (Ipa) Urlich to make his late run to finish on level scores with Campbell. This led to a 3 hole play-off.

Phil went out of bounds on the 16th to go 2 behind but picked up a shot on the 17th.

They levelled the last leaving Campbell (261) in first place with Phil (261) having to settle for second once again.

Bernie Raffe (294) came in first in the junior ladies, even though she slipped back a couple of shots but so did her closest rivals, and Tai Raina (298) surged up the field to claim second place.

Vae Unuka lost form badly on the day allowing Junior Ngatokorua to slip past with the result being first Junior Ngatokorua (268) second Vae Unuka (276).

The vet’s division was pretty much a foregone conclusion, given Tom J Marsters’ lead after two rounds but Riiti Mamanu never gave up and, playing good consistent golf throughout the tournament showed the rest of the players how it should be done. Final result was Tom J Marsters (213), first, Riiti Mamanu (229), second.

Congratulations to all the winners and many thanks must go to Betsy Eisler and Palm Grove for their generous sponsorship.

This Saturday is the famous Michigan Motors Shoot-out and the players will be William Howard, Henry Story, James Herman, Tom J Marsters, Ned Howard, Stanley Urlich, Daniel Webb, Sonny Karati, Chris McKinley, Rotana Howard, Alice Pilkinton, Maara Kenning, Kurai Foster, Tuaine Marsters, Campbell Hocking, Jimmy Teokotai, Tereapii Urlich, Royle Brogan and Tania Karati. First reserve will be Nga Manuela.

There will be a Calcutta on the players at 7 pm on Thursday at the Club.

Tickets are on sale at the bar. Come along and join in the fun at the auction – bring your cheque book. Then come along on Saturday morning and support your favourite player.

The Peter Fletcher Memorial Tournament takes place on July 10 so get your team of four players organised now.