Saturday Golf: 26 October 2019

The annual Labour Weekend Ohope 10,000 Open Tournament was held last month and the perfect weather was matched only by the great condition of the Ohope International Links.

It was also significant that the new17th tee was opened for business, creating a lot of interest. Special mention is due to Head Greenkeeper, James Rawsthorne and his team for the presentation of the course in a condition that attracted plenty of favourable comment from a host of visiting players.

Many thanks also to the sponsors of this iconic event. A big team of volunteers worked tirelessly to produce another superb tournament. The club executive, Manager Lee-Anne and her team, the hamburger experts, the ladies in the kitchen and the bar, the spotters on the course, volunteers who were not playing in the tournament such as Kerry Ludwig and Hugh Stuckey who simply turned up and sold raffles all day, the Calcutta exponents, the car park attendants and the bunker-rakers. They all deserve a great big thank you for producing another outstanding example of how Ohope International can really turn it on! Well done all.

The gross winner of the two day event and the recipient of the Ohope Cup was Ohope International’s own Ryan Maxwell with a very impressive 140 strokes. His first day round was too hot for the runners up, Stuart Duff of Hastings 142, Jerry Ren of Gulf Harbour 143 and Jason McIntosh of Taupo 145, all of whom were tipped in this competition held over the two days.

The inaugural Toi Moana Women’s 36H Open Tournament was held in conjunction with the Ohope 10,000 and was co-hosted by Ohope and Whakatāne Golf Clubs. More than 40 women from 16 clubs participated in this new event and enjoyed the same perfect conditions as the men, although they had to contend with a bit more blustery wind due to their later start time on Day 1.  The leader after the first round was Hannah Bae from Kawerau but she was toppled after the round at Whakatāne and the ultimate overall gross winner was Pip Lawson from Whakatāne with a score of 171 ahead of Vicky Chen from North Shore on 179.