KIWIS DOMINATE RESULTS
Comfort with local conditions seemed to be the difference in the inaugural World Schools Golf Challenge played in Christchurch from April 10th to 13th.
Co-sponsored by the Christchurch City Council and the PGA – International Golf Academy (Queensland) 54 teams from 29 high schools in South Africa, Australia New Zealand contested the 72 hole event at the Harewood, Waitikiri, Templeton and Coringa Golf Clubs.
Organised and run by Auckland based Vintage Sport & Leisure Ltd the feature of the event is that a high school can enter multiple teams in the 3 team categories – girls, mixed and boys. In addition to the teams categories were overall and handicap divisions individual nett and gross competitions.
Como Secondary College embraced the concept to the extent that they sent 7 teams from their Perth Golf Academy – 4 boys, 1 girls and 2 mixed teams. Multiple team entries came from many schools.
Several schools have already committed to the next WSGC to be held in Australia in 2009.
TEAMS COMPETITION
BOYS
The local Christchurch school Shirley Boys High School team of Sam Ma, Dean Harvey, Patrick Chae and James Van Beck won the Boys Gross with a 4 round total of 1218. Otago Boys High School (team One) and St Kentigerns College from Auckland were second and third respectively. The highest placed visiting teams were Victorian school St Bede’s College in 7th and in 9th Hilton College from KwaZulu Natal.
The overseas teams were much more prominent in the Boys Teams Nett competition where the St Michaels College (Adelaide) second team won followed by Otago Boys (team 3) and St Bedes College (Aust).
GIRLS
A late withdrawal from the Christchurch Girls team saw the Como Secondary College team win the girls section in a walkover.
MIXED TEAMS
Rangitoto College from Auckland’s North Shore prevailed in the mixed teams gross. The Rangitoto team of Sean Hawkins, Nick Laydon, Johnathon da Silva and Nicola Cresswell finished ahead of Otagos Wakatipu High School and Illawarra Sports High School from NSW.
First in the Mixed teams nett competition was Team 3 from Perth’s Como Secondary College. Second was Lytton High School (Gisborne) and third Wakatipu High School (Queenstown).
GIRLS INDIVIDUAL GROSS AND NETT
The overall and first division gross winner was Christchurch Girls High School’s Da Na Kim with rounds of 75, 75, 76 and 79. Kim’s victory highlighted a standout performance by the Girls High contingent with Jenny Sim second and Sylvie Williams third.
The second division was also dominated by one school. This time Como Secondary College supplied the top three with Joelle Lim (1st), Liyana Hassim (2nd) and Helen Pepper (3rd).
The nett winner, overall and First Division was Jenny Simm, (Christchurch Girls HS) followed by Sylvis Williams (CGHS) and Aimee Woosnam from Como Secondary College.
Second division winner was Como’s Helen Pepper, Jacqui Colbert from Lytton HS in Gisborne second and Sian Kelly from Como third.
BOYS INDIVIDUAL GROSS AND NETT
Local Christchurch schoolboys filled the first three places. Andrew Namkoong on 296 won by one shot from Dean Harvey from Shirley Boy’s HS and Sam Ma also from Shirley a further 2 shots back.
The field was split into four divisions:
Div 1: 4 and under
Div 2: 5 – 8
Div 3: 9-14
Div 4:15 – 26
In Division 1 the nett title was taken out by the Gross winner, Andrew Namkoong. Second was Alan Houston from Melbourne’s St Bede’s College and third was Keelan Kilpatrick from St Bede’s in Christchurch.
Division 2 saw Scott McAlpine from St Kentigern College in Auckland win with Rotorua Boys William Howard second and C Nicholls, St Bede’s (Melb) third.
The 3rd Division was won by Nat Jones from Como. A Pearson St Bede’s (Melb) second and Scott McEvoy from St Michaels in Adelaide third.
4th Division winner was B Chapman, (St Bede’s Melb), Kirby Watts (Como) second and Ashley McKay third.