Golf champs down to semis

Players competing for the Rarotonga Golf Club Championships get a break this weekend so that those who wish can travel to Aitutaki for the Aitutaki Open.

The quarter-finals of the championships were played last Saturday and the semi-finals will be played on November 5 with finals scheduled for the 12th to coincide with the end of season prize-giving.

With the rain prior to Saturday, a lot of golfers expected the course to have slowed down, especially on the greens.

However, the dryness of the course meant that most of the run was still there and the greens were still pretty fast.

It took some players quite a while to change their thinking away from expecting things to be slower and a lot of golfers shot over their handicap.

This was reflected in the scores for the bogey competition for the day.

The best score was a +4 and only points separated the top 17 players.

Best round of the day for the men came from William Howard with a 69 off the stick which could easily have been 3 or 4 shots better if he had been able to master the speed of the greens. Back from New Zealand for a break, William did very well for someone who could not be prepared for the conditions.

The same can be said for his sister, Rotana, who shot a 76 off the stick to be the best of the ladies.

Winner of the sweep for the day was Sonny Karati with a +4 on a count-back from Henry R Henry, William Howard and Paara Pitomaki. They were followed close behind by Leo Roa, Russell Hynde, Alec MacDonald and Glen Armstrong who all came in with +3.

The top ten was rounded off by Jimmy Teokotai and Moeroa Turua on a count-back from 7 others. All carded a +2.

When the semi-finals are played on November 5, the following will do battle senior men Kirk Taiti vs Royle Brogan, Teinaki Howard vs Sonny Karati, senior ladies Maara Kenning vs Tuaine Marsters, Kurai Foster vs Mena Howard, intermediate men Ed Pittman vs Joe Daniel, Karika Karika vs Jimmy Teokotai, intermediate ladies Tai Raina vs Jackie Urlich, Rita Howard vs Terangi Teokotai, junior A men Darrell Browne vs Ngapoko Ngatamaine, Glen Armstrong vs John Teiti, junior ladies Bernie Raffe vs Mii Tangitamaiti, Moeroa Turua vs Teremoana Hardie, junior B men Tingika Elikana vs Myles Taio, Luther Berg vs Jules Maher, vets Apai Paitai vs Riiti Mamanu, Pape Aviu vs Olly Silk.

Some really close games among those listed are expected and we could be in for a number of play-offs.

Good luck to those golfers lucky enough to be going to Aitutaki. The rest of us will just play a normal club sweep on Saturday.

The new rules of golf are due out and one of the changes is in the area regarding being late for your tee time, so get into the habit of being at the tee (ready to play) at least 5 minutes before your allocated tee time.

Business House Golf will start on November 24 so start organising your team.

The club is seeking a convener to help organise and run the competition so if you are interested in helping out, please give Rarotonga Golf Club a call on 20261.

Best of luck to all competitors in the club championships as well as all other golfers.