Aorangi Golf - Waitangi Tournament

The annual Waitangi Day tournament took place recently at Rakaia Golf Club.

The day sees each club have six-person teams often comprised of key officers of each club, making it a day of core volunteers that contribute all across the region. Up for grabs is a team trophy that is awarded for the best accumulative six stableford scores meaning all six players need to fire on the day to have a chance for this one as well as trophies for both the best performing Club Captain and President.

The winner of last year’s tournament get to host the following event, however 2024 champions, Ashburton Golf Club were unable to host it this year with Rakaia stepping up to the plate to host.

The course clearly posed challenges to the field with only two players managing to shoot to their handicap of better out of the fifty-four players. The Rakaia members would undoubtedly take pride in this and being able to put on a challenging experience; nine-hole courses often get overlooked on this front.

The score of the day went to Jeremy Duckmanton who managed 37 points off his 1 handicap for Rakaia, with Steven Booker on 36 points and Ryan Cockburn on 35 both from Rakaia and helping their team chances greatly. Ryan managed to take out the Captain’s Cup with this performance a few shots clear of his nearest competitor. Mayfield’s President, Gordon Duthie probably didn’t think he would’ve taken out the Presidents Cup with 31 points, however this was enough at the end of a challenging day to win this title and take home the prize!