2017 New Zealand Women’s Autumn Foursomes Harewood Golf Club 21-23 March

By Denise Langdon,
PaR nz Golfing Holidays

Deb Scott and Jill Balloch left it until the final 18th hole to stamp their names on the 81st New Zealand Women’s Autumn Foursomes Cup at Harewood Golf Club in Christchurch.
After a long tussle, former Scottish junior representative Balloch and Canterbury women’s masters selector Scott, both from the host club, narrowly defeated Julie Livesey (Tai Tapu) and Sharon Screen (Charteris Bay).
The Harewood pair did not have the best of starts, being two down after four holes in the final match. Pars on the 5th and 6th got them back to all-square, which they held until the 10th hole. A bogey on the opening back nine, however, was good enough for them to edge ahead after Livesey and Screen shot a triple-bogey.
The match see-sawed for four more holes until Scott and Balloch slotted two pars in succession to gain the lead on the 15th.  The 16th and 17th were halved, and Livesey and Screen conceded the match on the 18th when they struggled to make the tough finishing hole in regulation.
Sixty-four pairs competing for the NZ Golf Autumn Foursomes Cup were randomly drawn for six rounds of foursomes match play over the three-day tournament.
As one of the lowest seeded pairs, Scott and Balloch needed to play consistently for all six rounds, frequently giving shots – up to 23 in one match – in the handicap foursomes format.
They won their opening match, 4 and 3, against Geraldine pair Denise Kenny and Sisi Silcock, who went on to earn the 2017 NZLGU Salver after winning their next five matches – including by 2 and 1 over Tai Tapu pair Janet Nicholls and Diane Stalker on the final day.
Semi-finalists in the NZLGU Autumn Foursomes Cup and the NZLGU Salver were Carol Bogue with Rosie Turnbull, of Alexandra; Valerie Ross with Annette Thompson, Mataurua; Julie Fraser with Liz Hodgson, Taumarunui; and Anne Moffat with Marg Reid, of Wanaka.
The NZLGU Salver Flight 1 was won by the sister-duo Ginny Bolderston (Geraldine) and Nicky Muir (Hororata), who were both selected to compete in the 2017 New Zealand Women’s Masters on March 31 at Ngaruawahia Golf Club. Bolderston was to represent Aorangi, and Muir, Canterbury,
The NZ Autumn Foursomes Flight 1 winners were Pam Ellis (Waitikiri) and Lyn Robertson (Amberley).  Ellis has a long association with Canterbury Golf, and manages the district’s masters team.
With multiple flights on both sides of the 64-pair draw, the prize list was impressive.
In the Autumn Foursomes main draw, other flight winners included Katrina Noone and Rhonda Thomson, from Ardleigh, along with Waitikiri members Danae Goosman and Cheryl Kemp, who is a past New Zealand softball representative as well as an accomplished golfer. Harewood players Alison Lynch and Denise Whitbread won flights as did Linley Trapp, who partnered with one of the tournament’s regulars, Andrea Mark from Paraparaumu. Completing the list of flight winners in the main draw were Jan Latham and Shona Moore from Lincoln, along with Erin Mulholland (Hawarden) and Mary Samuela-Anderson (Scargill).
In the NZLGU Salver side of the draw, Kay Gilray with Margaret Black, and Lynley Gainsford with Pam McTaggart claimed two more flights for the host club. Julie Hamilton (Harewood) partnered with Jocelyn Pollock (Masterton) to win the Flight 7 in the prize pool. Norma Mitchell (Wyndham) and Mary Symons (Otautau), Lynn Pederson (Wairakei) and Corinne Pert (Kinloch), and Carol Brand (Gleniti) partnered with Vicki Moore (Ashburton), won NZLGU Salver flights 4, 5 and 6, respectively.
The annual tournament, managed by PaR nz Golfing Holidays, will be held at Whakatane next year.