Finals Day...........

The Christchurch Golf Club was represented on Finals Day at Russley by our Woodward and Blank Cup Teams. After a difficult season for both teams there was a quiet confidence that we were in with a chance to bring home some silverware.

Our Blank team had finished fourth and drew the top qualifiers Waitikiri in the semis. Although we put up a spirited performance we were unable to match a team determined to regain Woodward status with this as a milestone on the journey. Congratulations to Peter Sim and Karl Kitchingham who both had wins and to Brad Clark for a half but that was as close as we could get in a 5 1/2 to 2 1/2 loss. Later in the day Waitikiri secured the Blank Cup after a sudden death play off against the home side Russley. Congratulations to Rod O'Brien and the team for progressing to the finals and we have built the foundations for success next year albeit in a revised competition.

Although the playing through champions our Woodward team had a different look from 12 months ago but there was no denying a steely determination to give of their best. The morning match was against top qualifiers Kaiapoi who were appeared quietly confident notwithstanding we had beaten them in the same match last year. This confidence appeared to be well founded as two premature unexpected losses gave them an early advantage. Liam Cumberpatch moved to redress the balance with a meritorious win over the experienced Karl Mariau 4/2 and then Nathan Gilbert evened up the ledger with a 2/1 victory at number 6.

Unfortunately bad news followed as Kaiapoi number 2 Jamie Meade closed out an up and down match against Peter MacDougall at 16 to move Kaiapoi to a three two lead. The final match had JB Sanders paired against Jason Sincock and it had been nip and tuck the whole way round. JB sunk a 15 foot putt on 16, followed by a fist pump, to stay square and 17 was subsequently halved. It all now rested on 18 and Kaiapoi only needed to half the hole to stay square and win the overall match.

The pin on 18 was placed in a treacherous position in the sloping lower centre. Although greenside for 2 JB could not hole out for par and made bogey. The Kaiapoi player had put his second in the bunker and his recovery shot left him 10 feet below the hole. His first putt slid by 2 feet above and with JB having been unable to hole out he needed to make the return to secure the half and victory. From the time the putter hit the ball it moved absolutely sideways with the borrow to not even touch the hole as it went past to provide JB with a one up win and an unlikely half on the overall match. A playoff would be required to ascertain the afternoon finalist.

After some discussion Tom Turner, as captain and with the best playing record through the competition, stood up for Christchurch matched against Jamie Meade of Kaiapoi. Playing 17, although slightly wayward left with his drive, Tom played a superbly weighted 9 iron second from 16 fairway to be at the back of the green behind the pin but crucially on the same level for two. The second for the Kaiapoi player from centre fairway, pumped by adrenalin, flew the green and finished over the back below green level with some tree trouble. A delicate chip found the green but left a lengthy par saving putt. Tom hit his putt stone dead and then Jamie Meade answered with a pressure filled stroke that found the centre of the cup for a half and we moved on to 18.


Hitting off first the Kaiapoi drive headed right into the rough some distance back while Tom calmly smashed his straight down the middle. Playing first with the pin still in the same position Jamie muscled his ball from the rough onto the green but well above the hole. Tom replied with a classic 6 iron to the right of the pin but only just hole high. Above the pin was not the preferred position and so it proved as putting first the Kaiapoi ball would not stop rolling and he was still away. Going back up hill the ball raced past in the other direction. Tom once again measured his putt and while leaving some work he had a clear advantage. Unfortunately Kaiapoi continued to have difficulty in holing out and with a number of putts in hand Tom sunk his for a par and a sudden death win.

With a mere 30 minutes for lunch our boys were back on the tee for the final against perennial foes Russley who had of course the home advantage. In round robin play, 2 weeks before, we had halved in an extremely tight match and this promised to be nothing different. As the afternoon chill set in we won the toss and hit off first. At the bottom of the order the young Russley team got off to a flying start and never relented on the pressure and losses were recorded at 4, 5, & 6. If we were to be in with a chance the top three would have to bring us home.


At number 3 JB posted our first win to get us back in the game, while neither team seemed to be able to establish ascendancy in the top pairing. Through 15 holes both matches were square and it would be fair to say some indifferent putting saw us squander our chances to go 1 up in both at 16. The Christchurch pairing were rock solid down 17 while both Russley players headed off down the right and had to play recovery shots well short of the green but no with easy up and down. Difficult chips left Russley with long par saving putts especially as Peter MacDougall put his third stone dead and Tom Turner was left with nothing but a formality for par. Answering the challenge both Russley players sunk the difficult "must makes" to remain square. Once again we were heading down 18 with all to play still at stake.

The afternoon saw the pin move to the back of the green in a reasonably inaccessible positioning which would test both the nerve and skill of the players. After the drives the advantage was slightly Christchurch and the seconds from Russley were nothing to write home about and the door was slightly ajar. Peter MacDougall finished on the right hand edge slightly below the hole while Tom Turner had gone flag hunting and hit 4 iron pin high to the left the hole. Tom made par while his opponent made bogey to put us in with a chance at 3/2 but unfortunately the Russley number 2 made par with a great two putt from nowhere at the extreme front of the green and we had no answer for a final loss 4/2 .

While not the result for which we had hoped our Team competed tenuously throughout the afternoon and with an ounce of luck on the odd putt we could have halved the match and been in a play off once again. Many thanks to the numerous club members who made it out to Russley on Sunday your support was greatly appreciated as were the efforts of those who gave up their day for caddying. We will return next year determined to regain the Cup!