2019 New Zealand Men’s & Women’s Mid-Amateur
Omanu Golf Club
Sunday 13 January 

Trans-Tasman Mid-Am Winners!

New Zealand’s Dale Clarke (Sherwood Park) and Australia’s Louise Mullard (Morisset) have proved they are the ones to beat, on both sides of the Tasman, in the competitive Mid-Am Golf scene.

Clarke and Mullard, who are the current Australian Mid-Amateur Champions, have won the 2019 New Zealand Mid-Amateur at the Omanu Golf Club today, both in convincing form.

Clarke’s win after the 54-hole tournament was with an impressive 12 shot margin, Mullard by 7.  Both led the tournament from start to finish. 

Clarke opened with the best round of the day on Friday with a 71, as did Mullard on the par 72, links style course.   Clarke got better and better as the weekend rolled on with his best round of the tournament, a 6-under 66 today.  A little bogey blemish on the challenging par 3, 7th could not detract from his seven birdies on the 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 10th, 15th, 16th and a chip in on the 17th which simply meant, he would not be caught. 

Clarke is the current holder of the Neil Woodbury Cup from his 2018 New Zealand Mid-Amateur win, time will tell if he can make it a three-peat in 2020.

Mullard is also a two-time winner with wins in the 2017 and 2018 Australian Women’s Mid-Amateur.  A former professional for more than a decade she returned to amateur golf in 2012 after a ten-year break for marriage and a family.

Mullard edged out some of New Zealand’s best women Masters’ players with final rounds of 74 and 79, to add to her opening 71, for a total of 224.   Chasing hard was Waikato’s Robyn Pellow (Ngaruawahia) who shot 76, 82 and a one over 73 today, the best round of the day for the women.  Sadly, for Pellow she had to settle for 2nd place, 7 shots behind Mullard.

Also finishing on 231 points, was Bay of Plenty representative Heather Keefe (Springfield) who as the tournament’s highest placed eligible kiwi, was invited by tournament promoters PaR nz Golfing Holidays to compete in the 2019 Australian Women’s Mid-Amateur in November, in NSW, (venue to be confirmed).

With rounds of 77, 78 and 76, Jill Morgan (Cambridge), also a Waikato representative, finished her 2019 challenge with a total of 231 points.  One shot back was Vaha Fapiano (North Shore), a regular North Harbour representative.

Clarke’s nearest rival in the men’s championship was Adam Williams (Muriwai) who shot 73, 73 and 71 today for a total of 217, two ahead of Omanu members Gary Cannell and Simon Wright.    Cannell did however claim the best stableford place, with the best net won by Michael McCarten (Hamilton). 

Liz Bartlett (Ngaruawahia) won the women’s best net after her second round, a blistering 64 net, with local, Paula Chepelsky winning the ladies best stableford title.

Competing concurrently at Omanu, was the 2019 NZ 9-Hole Masters that was won by Elizabeth-Ann Nightingale (Riverside) with 59 stableford points, over a 27-hole, 3-day tournament.   In second place was Te Puke’s Joanne Burt, with 55 points.  Four shots back with 51 points were Margaret Foster (Warkworth) and Lyn Erni (Te Puke). 

151 players from around the country were joined by golfers from Australia, New Caledonia, USA, Fiji and South Africa in the 2019 Mid Am Championships and NZ 9-Hole Masters.   PaR nz Golfing Holidays who manage the tournament under the auspices of New Zealand Golf announced that Omanu will be the venue partner again in 2020.  Entry forms and details will be published in due course. 

Clarke and Keefe have both been offered travel grants from PaR nz Golfing Holidays to attend the 2019 Australian Mid-Amateur, for which results will be reported.

For more information and photos contact

Denise Langdon

Phone +275 662 385