Canterbury duo win Australian/Asia-Pacific Hickory Golf Championships

By Neville Idour

Catherine Palmer (nee Bell) and Mark Lawson from the Christchurch Golf Club played superbly to win the coveted foursomes' title at the combined Australian and Asia-Pacific Hickory Golf Championships in Melbourne recently.

They combined to record a superb 72 on the new Sandy Links course on the Mornington Peninsula which is renowned for its sandbelt courses.

They had to beat a strong field with an international presence and some professionals. Their four shot margin over seasoned Australian professional Mike Clayton, a winner of eight events in his career, and Terence Thornton, was impressive.

Palmer went one better winning the women’s individual event over two rounds with scores of 86 at Woodlands and 83 at Kingston Heath, well clear of her rivals.

In the overall scoring, which included the men and women, she placed an impressive seventh. Lawson, the Christchurch Golf Club course superintendent, finished a creditable seventh in the men’s field.

What made Palmer’s efforts even more notable was the fact that this was the first time she had played 18 holes with hickory clubs. Apart from the 12 holes at the 2023 New Zealand Hickory Open earlier this year she has only been playing nine holes with hickory clubs.

How did Palmer get into hickory golf?

Caption: Catherine Palmer and Mark Lawson from the Christchurch Golf Club who won the foursomes' title at the combined Australian and Asia-Pacific Hickory Golf Championships in Melbourne.

“During covid in level two you could play by yourself and one day I met Peter Van Ekelen who was playing with his hickory clubs,’’ Palmer began to explain.

``We got chatting. He said that no women were playing hickory golf and suggested I should give it a go. I thought why not and started playing hickory twilight at the Christchurch club at the end of 2022.

“I think when you play day to day it is not hard, especially for a woman, to pick them up because you don’t change your swing too much. It is challenging and different and that is what I like.

``Currently I am just happy relaxing and playing whenever and wherever. So it is quite nice for a change and meeting a new group of people.”

Will you go to the World Championships?

``No, just aim for the New Zealand Hickory Open in March, 2024. They intend making it a bigger event over a week and hope to get more international players to play. Making it a celebration with wives and partners will add to the enjoyment.”

Palmer has been one of Canterbury’s leading women players for some years so we asked her about her background.

``I was brought up in Ashburton. Both mum and dad played golf. I played all sorts of sports growing up such as netball, squash, basketball and tennis. I really enjoyed tennis and wish I had kept it up but it always clashed on Saturday with golf which I started playing when I was 12. My parents moved to near the Ashburton golf course, so I could just walk there to play.

“We had 12 acres and still have. Dad pulled out all the fences and gang-mowed the paddocks to make our own driving range. So I could hit balls most days.

``My coach was Andre Van Staden who is now coaching at the Remuera club. When I was 15 I played interclub for Russley.’'

Palmer eventually played for the New Zealand development team which played the trans-Tasman in Australia. Fellow team members were Julianne Alvarez, Wen Yung Keh and Laura Hoskin. She continued playing under-19 events and representative events.

She has been playing for Canterbury for the last 10 years or so as a member of the Christchurch Golf Club. Canterbury won the New Zealand Interprovincial title in 2015 after a 27 year drought. The team included Palmer, Momoka Kobori, Amelia Garvey, Hillary O’Connor and Julianna Hong. It certainly holds fond memories for Palmer.

So what does the future hold for Palmer?

``I will probably get back into representative golf eventually (She is having a spell from it this year). I just needed a break to enjoy my weekends,’’ she added with a laugh.

``I like to put the work ethic in on my game and consistency, even if I may perform well enough to make the team. I want to know I deserve to be in the team. I just didn’t want that commitment this year.''

Previously a dental assistant, for the last year Palmer has been relishing her role as Canterbury Golf participation co-ordinator, working with junior golf and the She Loves Golf programme, which introduces women to playing golf.