Manawatu -Wanganui New District Stroke Play Champions for 2024 Crowned

Marton Golf Club's Rhys Harold braved not only some very heavy winds on 36 holes, but a comitted pack who were not far off coming into the 3rd round. Kingston taylor Voyle of Taranaki's Manukorihi Golf Club was leading after 36 holes and was looking in good form. Kingston has a good track record at the Feilding Golf Club winning the Manawatu Wanganui Age Groups earlier in the year. This will have given him some confidence heading into the 3rd round. Maraenui Golf Clubs Richard Ratima was also looking in good form and has a lot of tournament experience playing against Manawatu Wanganui competitors. Local and the 2024 Wanganui Open Champion Anthonhy Ilton-Maher no doubt felt like that if he stayed close enough after the 2nd round then he'd have a fighting chance. It was at the Wanganui Open where Rhys, Anthony and Regan McConaghty fought in a 19th and 20th play off hole to determine the winner, with Anthony nudging them both out on the 20th hole. The three of them will have been pretty confident that if they were there or there abouts near the end then they were in for a chance. Rhys managed to hold his nerve in testing conditions on Sunday winning by a comfortable 4 shots over 2nd place Richard Ratima and 3rd place Kingston Taylor-Voyle.

Rhys Harold said "I am stoked to come away with the win, especially in a pretty strong field. Was good to have 3 solid rounds with no major mistakes. I have been going through a couple of swing changes the last few weeks so they're starting to feel comfortable now. I just hit the ball solid the whole weekend which was needed since the course was wet. Shot shaping also helped a lot in the wind. Holed a few long putts too which helped. My game plan for the weekend was to be aggressive on the gettable holes, miss it in the right spots if needed and make no doubles or worse"

Women's trophy winner was Kayla Van De Ven from the Napier Golf Club. It was a fantastic weekend for Kayla as she also won the Feilding Open trophy on the Saturday taking away 2 trophies for the weekend. A very successful outing for Kayla.

"I'm feeling pretty proud after winning the tournament as I went into the weekend just wanting to have a good time and play some good golf at a course I love. My short game worked well for me and I found myself leaving my approaches short throughout the weekend but made up for it with my chipping and putting. My Game plan was to just ahve some fun. I knew there was a chance I could win the tournaments but all I wanted was to reconnect with the other Juniors in Manawatu and to be able to continue to growe my game.

Kayla is one of the top junior players in the Hawkes Bay District and will no doubt be representing them at the Junior Interprovincials and 'Toro' Interprovincials in the coming months.

Sophie Yu from the North Shore who also played at the National Age Groups alonsgide Kayla during the week decided to make her way to Feilding for the tournament also. Sophie placing 2nd with Lisa Herbert of the Feilding Golf Club placing 4th.

For what may be the first time, the District Stroke Play was open to PGA members. James Malone from the Hawera Golf Club, Reuben McNamara from Feilding and Tara Raj who now resides at the Napier Golf Club enetered the field. It was great to see them play and be amongst the field of aspiring golfers and also be able to get into some competitive golf. All 3 players were eligible for prize money but not the trophy. Tara Raj regined supreme in the prize money list claiming 1st place shooting an even par to secure a victory.