Women golfers on the chase

After day one of the four-day golf tournament the Cook Islands womens team sat in 3rd place with a score of 250 made up by the top three scores on the day from the four person team.

In first place was host New Caledonia on 224 and Tahiti in second on 247.

Pacific and Cook Islands open women number one player 16-year-old Elmay Viking carded 79 on the par 72 course for an overall 6th place from 39 female players in the competition.

At the top of the table is Vikings main rival Charlotte Navarro of New Caledonia who was less than impressed at coming second to Viking at the Pacific Mini Games in Rarotonga in 2009.

Viking took the gold medal that year via a playoff win over Navarro and at the time the New Caledonia player vowed to win the gold in 2011.

The next best local woman was Maara Kenning who carded 83 to sit in 12th place overall after the first day.

Kenning commented that the first day was long over the hilly course terrain but smiled when she recalled her best hole of the day.

My best hole was number 11 I got a birdie from a chip, says Kenning.

However, she also had a bad shot that was just as vivid and that was sending her ball into the water and incurring a one shot penalty.

But the seasoned golfer says that she is looking forward to improving her game over the next four days.

First time Pacific Games player Tania Karati 88 and Tuaine Marsters didnt record the best score with 95 but the long time golfer is sure to bounce back.

In the mens division the team placed 5th on the end of day one with a best three total score of 238.

Once again New Caledonia are leading in the mens division followed by Tahiti, Samoa and Guam.

The best score of the day came from Aitutaki golfer Kirk Tuaati with 75 followed by Daniel Webb on 81, Royale Brogan on 82 and Sonny Karati on 84.

Three more long days lie ahead for the team.