Doyle and Palmer win men’s and women’s divisions of NZ Hickory Open

By Neville Idour

Christchurch Golf Club professional Anthony Doyle won the 2024 Hickory Open at his home course at Shirley with a score of 48.

Played over a traditional hickory 12-hole course layout, Doyle prevailed narrowly over Jason Tilley with a score of 49 and the Christchurch course superintendent Mark Lawson who scored 50.

Hickory patron Sir Bob Charles, 87, who won last year, was hampered by an achilles injury but still scored 55.

Likewise Catherine Palmer(Christchurch GC), who retained her women’s title, also scored 55. Charles still came away with an award. He won the best dressed award with a Donegal tweed outfit from Scotland.

New Zealand regained the Anzac Flask from Australia with a score of 200 strokes to 214.5. The Japan Cup was not contested as the Japan team withdrew due to the January earthquake.

The Asia-Pacific tournament was played in conjunction with the open and James Devlin (Pegasus GC professional), a seasoned hickory player, was too good for the field over two rounds scoring 122, with Mark Lawson second with 138.

The event playing numbers were a little down on last year with a field of 44 players according to Sir Bob. He spoke about possible reasons for that and is expecting there will be changes next year to attract more entries. We hope to be able to report on those decisions in next month’s issue as the mooted changes will take the event to a new level.

One aspect that seems to be lacking is support, impetus and promotion from Golf New Zealand. This writer is certainly not aware of any noise from Golf New Zealand.