It’s another huge golf weekend across the globe, from the
President’s Cup in New Jersey to the McKayson NZ Women’s Open in Auckland, as
well as the final of the Web.Com playoff series.
We start though with a preview of the local professional
circuit:
New Zealand Professional Circuit
The second half of the PGA NZ Professional season gets underway today, with the
Yealands Family Wines Pro-Am, at the Marlborough Golf Club's Fairhall course.
Thirty one NZPGA Professionals will tee it up with teams of keen amateurs, and
while the Professionals will compete for an $11,000 purse, they will also be
contributing to their teams’scores for the amateur prizes.
Wendy Batchelor and her team at the club have once again successfully pulled together
the event against the odds, after last year’s earthquake, and all the
difficulties arising from that.
A
strong field includes 2014 Mondiale NZ PGA Order of Merit winner Harry Bateman,
Jared Pender, Hayden Beard, last year’s winner Victor Janin, and last year’s
runner-up Martin Pettigrew. Local
knowledge may be a key, which could favour Jonti Philipson, David Riordan, Chas
Craig, Braden Lord and Nick Loach.
Similar
earthquake related challenges have been faced in Kaikoura, where the circuit moves on
Saturday and Sunday for the Heller and Friends Pro-Am, which also doubles as
the New Zealand Professional Championship.
The leading club professional in this event takes away the prestigious
Rodway Stephens Trophy, and entry to the 2018 NZ PGA Championship. The Kaikoura Golf Club and the whole Kaikoura
community deserve great credit for once again staging this tournament, which is
seen by the professionals as one of the highlights of the whole circuit.
McKayson NZ Women’s Open
It’s
great to see golf finally getting its fair share of coverage in the local
media, courtesy of the LPGA and the McKayson NZ Women’s Open at Windross Farm
over the next four days. A massive
effort by Michael Goldstein and many others has brought this tournament to New
Zealand, and here’s hoping that the weather gods are kind until Sunday – some
rain and wind are likely at some stage – and that the crowds come out in
numbers.
Obviously
the main focus will be on Lydia Ko as she attempts to post her first LPGA
victory of 2017, and add a 4th NZ Open title to her CV, but there’s
also further local interest through the likes of Cathryn Bristow, Liv Cheng,
Jenna Hunter and world long driving star Phillis Meti . They will join an outstanding field of LPGA
professionals, with Brooke Henderson of Canada perhaps looking to reciprocate
Lydia’s successes in Canada on her own home turf.
Coverage
is on Sky Sports 53 from 2.00pm today.
President’s Cup
At
first glance, the Rest of the World team look like potential road kill against
a powerful USA team, given their respective track records in this event. The ROW side have recorded only one victory:
Royal Melbourne in 1998, where Frank Nobilo and Greg Turner were part of the
team. Maybe the best news for the ROW
team is that the event will be back at Royal Melbourne in 2019 – certainly they
need a win soon to keep interest alive in the President’s Cup.
However,
match play can throw up its share of surprises, and with Jason Day and Marc
Leishman prominent in recent weeks, plus the strong South African trio of
Branden Grace, Louis Oosthuizen and Charl Schwartzel, the ROW Team has a case
to put forward. The weaknesses may lie
in the comparative depths of both teams, with Emiliano Grillo, Jhonattan Vegas
and Si Woo Kim all playing in their first Cup.
The
Americans also have the advantage and inspiration of playing at Liberty
National GC, where the Statue of Liberty is clearly in sight from most of the
holes. Key holes on this Bob Cupp/Tom
Kite design may be the 135 metre 10th, and the 280 metre par 4 12th,
both potentially crucial swing holes in all of the matches.
You
can follow (or record) the action from 4.30am on Friday on SS 53.
Web.Com Tour
Last
year’s Tour Championship final at the Atlantic Beach Country Club was wiped out
by Hurricane Matthew, and the organisers must have feared a similar fate for
this year’s tournament. Luckily Harvey
was kinder than Matthew, so Steven Alker and Tim Wilkinson get to have their
last throw of the dice for a 2018 PGA Tour Card this weekend. They would both need to be well inside the
Top 10 to stand a chance, otherwise it’ll be back to Web.Com next year……we wish
them all the best.
European Tour
Ryan
Fox is not playing this week in the British Masters, which is a pity given the
field (Sergio Garcia, Rory McIlroy, Lee Westwood, Alex Noren, Tyrrell Hatton,
Matthew Fitzpatrick etc..) and the fact that NZ has a good record in the event,
with victories by Sir Bob Charles (1972) and Greg Turner (1997).
However,
Ryan has a crowded schedule for the rest of the year, including some more Rolex
Series events, so it is understandable he is choosing to bypass this one.
The
British Masters starts tonight at the Close House Golf Club in Newcastle, with
coverage on SS 52 from 9.30pm.
Other News
Like
Ryan, Michael Hendry is having a week off for similar reasons, as is Josh Geary
on the China Tour. Fraser Wilkin and
Daniel Pearce will feature in the latest event on that Tour, the Pure Pu’Er Tea
Classic (!) in Kunming.
On
the European Senior Tour, keep an eye out for Peter Fowler in the Paris
Legends, being played at Le Golf National, the venue for the 2018 Ryder
Cup. Chook is currently 4th
on the OOM with earnings to date of $200k, another good year for this
consummate professional and PGA member.
Special Offer to Friends of the PGA from our official
Accommodation supplier Ramada
The
Professional Golfers Association (PGA) has partnered with Ramada Hotels and
Resorts to be the official accommodation supplier to the PGA for the next three
years.
Under
the partnership, PGA members are able to book accommodation at all existing
Ramada properties throughout New Zealand at a preferred rate. This offer has
now been extended to the Friends of the PGA, and all you need to do is follow
the three easy steps below.
Step 1 / to
make a booking, visit www.ramada.co.nz
Step
2 / to make a reservation, just press book direct to access our room
availability screen
Step
3 / input promo code (the promo code for the PGA) Code: PGANZ