In-form Bateman favoured again
Harry Bateman is high on confidence after a dominant win at the Harewood Open last week as he aims to go back-to-back at the Augusta Funds Management Ngamotu Classic in New Plymouth.
Winning by a remarkable eight shots in challenging conditions, it’s hard to visualise him not being in contention on the second leg of the Charles Tour which tees off on Thursday.
Defending champion Dom Barson will aim for the repeat at a course he knows well as the club professional. Winning with a total of 16-under and by four shots, it’s clear he knows his way around the ocean edged course.
Barson will tee off in one of the early groups at 8am along with former New Zealand representative David Smail.
One of our leading professionals Dan Pearce returns to the scene after a long absence with a re-occurring back injury.
The power hitting pro has been plying his trade on the PGA of China, but hasn’t played at home since the New Zealand Open in March this year.
“It’s exciting to be back on the Jennian Homes Charles Tour and hopefully I can get back into the swing of things pretty quickly after a frustrating injury break,” Pearce said.
Pearce was last in the winner’s circle on the PGA Tour of Australia where he won in a thrilling playoff at the Queensland PGA Championship.
It’s exciting to see many of New Zealand’s leading amateurs in the field this week, led by some of our top ten who will be competing in the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship in two weeks time.
This event is fast approaching as players look to build towards the chance to be invited to The Masters and Open Championship if they are successful at Royal Wellington.
These players include James Anstiss, who finished tied second at last week’s Harewood Open, along with Mark Hutson, Luke Brown and Kerry Mountcastle.
The women’s field has an exciting entry list with the experienced Rose Zheng and rookie Carmen Lim registered to play in New Plymouth this week.
Lim had the amazing opportunity to tee off alongside Sir Bob Charles to officially open the Mckayson New Zealand Women’s Open two weeks ago and will look to build on her reputation as a promising young amateur.
The first of the field get under way at 7.30am with Taranaki rep Zach Lewis due to tee off at 7.40am. Other Taranaki players to head off in the morning include Brad Hayward who is due to start at
11.50am.
New Plymouth professional Grant Moorhead, who performed so well last year, will tee off at
12pm while other notables in the afternoon groups include Troy Ropiha, Mark Brown, Doug Holloway and Steven Heyes.