Hi there

Canterbury Golf are gearing up for their bi-annual Club Forum to be held on Sunday 23 May at Russley Golf Club. Facilitated by master MC Stephen Gee, club attendees will be treated to interactive discussion on golf’s topical issues, and a thought-provoking address from Golf NZ CE Dean Murphy. Guests include the Bowls NZ CEO Mark Cameron, NZ Rugby Development Manager Mike Hester, Dot Golf GM Matt Smith, and the Golf Managers of Association Board. Club leaders still have time to register at http://www.canterburygolf.co.nz/events/canterbury-club-golf-forum/

Amelia Garvey has qualified for her second US Women’s Open

Rising New Zealand golfing star and Canterbury’s own Amelia Garvey has qualified for her second US Women’s Open after prevailing in a playoff at pre-qualifying.

The 20-year-old has earned her place in her second major championship which is being played from June 4 – 7 at The Olympic Club, a day after her 21st birthday.

She carded rounds of 74 and 72 to finish at two-over par at Brentwood Country Club in Los Angeles, which meant she was in a three-person playoff for one spot in the US Women’s Open field.

Three extra holes wasn’t enough to separate the trio who were forced to come back this morning after running out of daylight yesterday. Garvey proceeded to hit her second shot on the fourth playoff hole to a foot setting up a tap birdie to cement her place in a major championship field for a second time.

She says it’s an exciting feeling knowing she’s going to tee it up on one of golf’s biggest stages once again.

“It doesn’t feel that long ago I played in my first one and it’s pretty cool to get the opportunity to hopefully perform a little better than last time now the first major pressures are off my shoulders and I’ve been there before.

She then went toe-to-toe with amateur Katherine Muzi and a professional she looks up to, the sweet-swinging Anne Van Dam.

“The playoff was crazy. I was up against Anne Van Dam and I was kind of fangirling a little bit whilst also trying to beat her. She was on the tee for the playoff last night and I was so intimidated!

She has sent messages to three major champions in the hope of playing a practice round with them.

“I’ve messaged Lydia [Ko], I’ve messaged Patty [Tavatanakit], and I’ve also sent a message to Hannah [Green] who is one of my really good mates as well. I’m trying to get a good practice round group together which would be a pretty good way to spend my birthday.

Garvey’s recent form has been formidable as she has recently had her best college result; a second place at the Pac-12 Women’s Championship.

She leaves to play regionals on Saturday night and hopefully the NCAA Championship at the end of the month, and still has eyes at playing the LPGA Tour’s qualifying school in August.

End of an Era at Canterbury Golf

It was the end of an era at Canterbury Golf when Golf Development Manager Rachel Thow finished up after 11 1/2 years in the role. Rachel's dedication, passion, and high level of expertise was celebrated recently at Canterbury Golf headquarters with over 40 people coming along to bid her farewell. Many people spoke about their involvement with Rachel and the consistent theme was her unwavering dedication to providing the highest service level possible to everyone she interacted with.Rachel's achievements include representing Canterbury in the Senior Women's Team for many years and receiving a Canterbury Golf Service Award. Canterbury winning all four Interprovincial titles under her watch, and both junior Interprovincial titles. Playing a part in fostering many New Zealand representative players, improving Canterbury Golf's promotional and marketing collateral, and starting the phenomenally successful Futures Canterbury programme. Rachel has moved on to a marketing role with Scotty Brown Cycles, extending her passion for the sport into the work environment.

Canterbury Women’s Masters Finish Fourth

The 2021 NZ Women's Masters was heavily affected with over 75mm of rain falling during the tournament. This forced the organisers to abandon play on Saturday as the course became unplayable and water-logged. This was only the second time in its 28-year history that play jeopardized the 72-hole format forcing the event to be reduced to only 36 holes. The reduced format made it difficult to make up ground on the first-round leaders Bay of Plenty. The Bay held on, to notch up their sixth victory at the event.

Defending Champions Canterbury were sitting in 6th position after the first round and make a good move on Sunday to overtake both Auckland and North Harbour to move into 4th place overall. The team had the experience of Naomi Wallace and Jo Kent, who had been part of the winning team in 2019, and were joined this year by Rachel Eder and Sally Rossiter. Eder was the best placed on the Canterbury players with 59 points, the third-best individual tournament score.

Metro A & B Finals

The Finals of Metro A & B Interclub were played at McLeans Island Golf Club on Sunday 18 April in warm, calm conditions and the course in great order. The Metro A Final between Russley and Bottle Lake was a very tight affair with three matches going to the wire before last year's champions Bottle Lake made it back-to-back titles defeating Russley 4.5-3.5.

The victorious Bottle Lake team of, from left Simon Carey, Shayne Dwyer, Mark Silcock, Trevor Hope, Richard Falloon and Ian Chaney. In front, Wayne Newsome, Craig Bilton and Lyall Grant are pictured below.

The Metro B Final between Russley and Coringa was just as close even though the scoreline indicated differently. The Coringa team pictured below of from left Scott Calvert, Ian Butcher, Alert Yee, Grant Morris, Bobby Pratt, Scott Ward, Joh Kemp and Trevor Lee defeated top qualifyers Russley 6-2, with four matches going down to the penultimate hole before Coringa sealed victory.

Friends of Canterbury Golf Members Tournament

There was a strong turnout for the first Friends of Canterbury Golf Members Tournament held at Waimakariri Gorge Golf Club last Friday. Members were asked to bring two friends to play as a team in a three person ambrose format.

The tournament would not have been possible without the generous support of Karen and Mike and their team at IFM Ltd, and the fantastic cooperation from the Waimak Gorge Golf Club.

The day started in a mild nor-wester but mid afternoon changed to a cool southerly. The field managed to get in before any major rain hit and enjoyed some hot savouries and a beverage.

Despite the conditions there was some hot scoring and the top five teams were separated by less than a shot. The winners on 61.3 were John Allan and his team of Graeme Tallott and John Collins (pictured below).

They were closely followed by:

• 61.5 Mike Godinet Team and the DVS boys
• 61.7 Steve Kilpatrick Team with John and Greg
• 61.9 IFM Team with Mike, Mike, and Greg
• 62 Mike Rondel Team with Pip and Brian

Founding member Todd Heller spoke about the idea behind Friends of Canterbury Golf and the opportunity for people to become involved by making a small contribution to the development of junior golf in Canterbury. New members can register by clicking here

A great day of fun and networking was had by all and we look forward to the next tournament in the Spring. 

Canterbury Golf - Golfers Survey

Canterbury Golf is responsible for leading, growing, and supporting the game in the region.

Canterbury Golf is seeking feedback from golf club members and casual golfers and would appreciate it if you could take the time to respond to this short survey. Your feedback will help Canterbury Golf improve its service to golfers in the region. Click here to start the survey https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/golfersurvey2021

Strong Golf Nominations for Canterbury Sports Awards

Canterbury Golf has made some strong nominations for the Canterbury Sports Awards to be held in May. The Canterbury Men’s Team were nominated for their win at the 2020 Interprovincial, Kazuma Kobori was nominated for many accolades including winning the 2021 New Zealand Strokeplay, and Zach May was nominated for the Canterbury Young Sportsman of the Year Award.  The finalists and winners are yet to be announced.