NZ Women’s Masters title goes to Northland

The winning Northland team. Back row from left to right:  Sam Dangen, Jenny Peters, Ann Hathaway. Middle row: Sandy Doherty. Front row from left to right:  Alayana Cox, Kylie Jacoby

Northland won the New Zealand Women’s Masters for the first time in the tournament’s 26-year history last month.
Northland’s previous best results had been thirds in 1997 and 2007.
This year’s event, for women aged 40 and older, was held at the Ngaruawahia Golf Club in Waikato and Northland led from start to finish.
The best three scores from the four players of each team counted towards the team’s total and points were totalled in a stableford format as if each player was on a zero handicap.
Northland scored 100 points on the first day to share the lead with hometown favourite Waikato.
The early charge for Northland was led by Kylie Jacoby who racked up 38 points. Jacoby went on to win the Canterbury Shield as the tournament’s leading individual by one point from Lisa Herbert of Auckland. Jacoby racked up 137 points from four rounds.
Sam Dangen also had four counting rounds for Northland with a total of 126 points. Alayna Cox, along with Jenny Peters, called in after the first round when the experienced Ann Hathaway had to withdraw with illness, also added to the team tally with contributions from two-rounds apiece.
Second place went to Bay of Plenty. Heather Keefe and Shelley McElroy led the team with solid play in all four rounds. Carol Leary, who has previously played for Manawatu-Wanganui, was steady with two counting rounds. One of the best rounds on the final day was by reserve Judy Cameron (32 points) who was called in for Gillian Lees, who also withdraw with illness. Bay of Plenty’s combined total of 93 on the final day was too good for Auckland which only managed 86 points.
Auckland ended up finishing third while fourth was shared by Waikato and Aorangi. The latter district, now administered with the assistance of Canterbury Golf, continues to punch above its weight over larger and arguably, stronger districts.
Having to settle for sixth place was Southland which has dominated this tournament for the last nine years with six wins and three seconds.
Final results were:-
379 – NORTHLAND 100, 98, 92, 89: K Jacoby 38, 33, 34, 32; S Dangen 33, 34, 30, 29; A Cox 29, 22 (n/c), 28, 22 (n/c); A Hathaway 20 (n/c), 31*, 25 (n/c)*, 28*
*Jenny Peters (Reserve)
369 – BAY OF PLENTY 95, 91, 90, 93: H Keefe 36, 30, 33, 32; S McElroy 31, 30, 32, 29; C Leary 28, 26 (n/c), 25, 26 (n/c); G Lees 28 (n/c), 31, 25 (n/c), 32*
*Judy Cameron
362 – AUCKLAND, 99, 91, 86, 86: L Herbert 37, 34, 33,32; S Kelly 31, 25 (n/c), 30, 27; L Creedy 31, 30, 22 (n/c), 27; K Vitale 28 (n/c), 27, 23, 15 (n/c)
360 – WAIKATO 100, 86, 90, 84: J Morgan 34, 32, 29, 28; R Pellow 34, 22, 31, 31; J Storey 32, 20 (n/c), 26 (n/c), 24 (n/c); J Gee 25 (n/c), 32, 30, 25
360 – AORANGI 91, 92, 85, 92: C Knight 36, 30, 33, 32; G Bolderston 29, 35, 25, 34; S Bradford 26, 27, 27, 26; W Parr 18 (n/c), 21 (n/c), 19 (n/c), 18 (n/c)
355 – SOUTHLAND 91, 90, 87, 87: R Boniface 33, 34, 30, 31; R Pullar 32, 35, 33, 31; F Murray 23 (n/c), 21, 23 (n/c), 25; H Baird 26, 21 (n/c), 24, 19 (n/c)
336 – HAWKES BAY / PB 92, 86, 83,75: J Field 29, 31, 29, 25; K Olsen 34, 29, 29, 26; M Manaena 20 (n/c), 26, 24 (n/c), 18 (n/c); F Ellis 29, 26 (n/c), 25, 24
334 – TARANAKI 80, 88, 81, 85: D McCallum 27, 29, 27, 26; A Braithwaite 27, 28, 32, 27; S Garner 25 (n/c), 26 (n/c), 21 (n/c), 25 (n/c); J McDonald 26, 31, 22, 32
312 – NORTH HARBOUR 78, 78, 73, 83: V Fapiano 29, 30, 36, 34; A Muir 25, 24, 17, 25; L Tate 24, 23 (n/c), 20, 17 (n/c)*; J Gillespie 21 (n/c), 24, 17 (n/c), 24
*Aprile Everitt
308 – CANTERBURY 79, 78, 74,77: K Turner 30, 31, 28, 25; D Kay 25, 20 (n/c) 21, 23 (n/c); C Kemp 24, 22, 25, 24; N Muir 21 (n/c), 25, 16 (n/c), 28
306 – MANAWATU / WANGANUI 84, 75, 70, 77: J Hall 32, 24, 26, 27; J Ritchie 27, 23, 19, 22 (n/c); R Hopper 21 (n/c), 20 (n/c), 18 (n/c), 26; L Cotton 25, 28, 25, 24
303 – WELLINGTON 78, 76, 78, 71: K Orchard 26, 28, 26, 25; C Hawe 24, 26, 28, 23; W Rhodes 28, 22, 24, 23; J Hewett 23 (n/c), 21 (n/c), 22 (n/c), 22 (n/c)
301 – TASMAN 82, 80, 68, 71: S Murray 25, 26, 19 (n/c), 21; T Bary 29, 25, 26, 22; M Reardon 22 (n/c), 29, 20, 28; R White 28, 24 (n/c), 22, 17 (n/c)
279 – OTAGO 74, 72, 69, 64: M Arhanic 25, 25, 25, 17, (n/c); D Dagg 23, 22, 21 (n/c), 25; R Devlin 21 (n/c), 20 (n/c), 22, 18; B Sutherland 26, 25, 22, 21