LYDIA KO SUPPORTED DISTRICT TOURNAMENT A HUGE SUCCESS

The Inaugural North Harbour Lydia Ko Age Group Championships was held on Queens Birthday weekend at hte prestigious Gulf Harbour Country Club. The 104 strong field was made up of top local players, a team from the Bay of Plenty, players from around NZ and a 13 strong team from the Hills Golf Academy in Queensland. The golf course was a huge test for players of all ages with heavy conditions from tee to green with fast greens to test players nerves. North Harbour Representative Kit Bittle (Peninsula) was the tournaments overall winner scoring a 70 on day one and backing this up with a 74 on the second day. Kit a popular local winner had just come off a win at the North Shore Classic a few weeks earlier. Kit was also awarded the 1 year academic scholarship at the Hills Golf Academy in Australia. Hills Academy player, Korean national Yurim Chin won the girls overall gross with a 148, 6 shots clear of Rose Zheng (Pakuranga). Rose also received a 1 month scholarship to the Hills Golf Academy along with the boys under 16 winner Jimmy Zheng (Howick) and boys under 14 winner Jay-Michael Lindsay (Pakuranga). North Shore player Ji Hyun Lee won the girls under 14 division with a score of 157. Tournament director and North Harbour junior coordinator Pam Greenhalgh was delighted as to how the tournament ran, “The Gulf Harbour Golf Course was a super challenge for all of the junior players who had to battle not only a challenging walk but some heavy conditions, wind and fast greens. Many of the young golfers were not use to playing an event like this and we are sure they learnt from their experience”. Harbour Golf are also very grateful for the support of former North Harbour player and World Number one Lydia Ko, “We are very proud of her success and her attitude towards golf and life. She is an incredible role model for all of our junior golfers and we look forward to her ongoing support of this tournament and junior golf in the North Harbour district”. For full tournament results please visit www.harbourgolf.co.nz/blog/656489

NORTH HARBOUR DEFEAT AUCKLAND IN BATTLE OF THE BRIDGE

It was an excellent result for North Harbour representative men’s golf on the 12 of June at Redwood Park in the annual Battle of the Bridge competition. The representative fixture is a match play completion with the best players in the top grade (open), juniors (under 19 and under 16) and masters (over 40) grades all competing for silverware and annual bragging rights. Despite a slow start the North Harbour open grade team's great depth proved the difference as they accounted for their opponents by a margin of 6.5/3/5. The Masters men won 4.5/3.5 in a nail biting finish that came down the wire, the North Harbour team absolutely stoked to win a trophy that North Harbour has not seen since 2009. Auckland did not go home empty handed winning the junior section by 5.5/4/5 in another very close finish. With three of North Harbour’s top Under 19's in the open grade section it was a chance for a few players in the juniors to have their first taste of district representative golf and they will be stronger for the experience. Overall North Harbour would claim bragging rights with a 15.5/12.5 win over Auckland. Congratulations to the North Harbour players who showcased the exception golfing talent the district has. It was also a fantastic opportunity for Redwood Park to host the very best players from the greater Auckland area and the west Auckland golf course was presented in fantastic condition on the day, especially given the recent rain fall.