Sir Bob’s support lifts Mountcastle
His boss gave him six weeks leave from his job as a Masterton electrician to prepare for this.
And New Zealand’s ninth-ranked amateur Kerry Mountcastle was undaunted by the big occasion, sparking up to move into contention for the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship at Royal Wellington.
Mountcastle, 22, treaded calmly in the spike marks of Masterton’s most famous golfing export Sir Bob Charles, who won the 1954 New Zealand Open there as an 18-year-old amateur, to be three-under. He was equal leading New Zealander with Nick Voke, tied for fourth, just four shots off Australian leader Min Woo Lee.
‘‘I’m feeling good. If someone had told me I’d be in the top-10 after two rounds I’d have been stoked,’’ Mountcastle said.
Mountcastle had 10 birdies over his first two rounds, two of those on his final two holes on Friday when he sank 25-foot and seven-foot putts to put a spring in his step after he’d missed some short ones.
‘‘The nerves were pretty high but I told myself beforehand, all the prep’s done, I’ve just got to go out and play and show everyone what I can do. I’ll just try more of the same and see what happens.
‘‘I’ve not played the course this firm for a very long time and the greens are just pure. The whole course is awesome, I love playing it like this.’’
Mountcastle always knows Sir Bob has his back, too. Charles addressed some of the New Zealand team last week in the Royal Wellington clubhouse, where a photo of his 1954 triumph hangs on the wall. The big prize for the winner this week is direct entry to the Masters Tournament and Open Championship, the latter won by Charles in 1963.
‘‘Of course, it’s pretty cool Bob Charles doing what he did. He’s been quite good supporting me, a very nice guy.’’