Tatana shows honesty is always the best policy in golf
Foxton golfer Junior Tatana’s display of sportsmanship deserves some sort of gong.
He is one of our district’s best players and high in the interprovincial team’s reckoning now three of the best have turned pro.
A week or so after being the joint winner of the Whanganui Open, Tatana phoned Manawatuwhanganui Golf Association selector Boy Manunui and disqualified himself.
He returned his voucher for his win at the Manawatu-whanganui strokeplay at Rangitikei last Sunday.
Tatana, a 39-year-old Milson Primary School teacher, could have stayed mum about his indiscretion and no one would have been the wiser.
He was checking his handicap on the NZ Golf website when up test myself. I don’t play golf to win titles like that.’’
Tatana and playing partner Regan Cording had been under pressure to wriggle along at the time, after twice looking for another player’s ball and with two groups backing up on the tee behind them.
So it was a couple of holes later before they pencilled in their scores.
The usual protocol is to enter scores after each hole and Tatana will be doing that from now on.
His total got him into a threeway playoff, which he said in hindsight he didn’t deserve to be part of.
After 36 holes he said he had been happy to put his feet up, until told he had to get back out there and play on.
Darkness descended with Tatana and Waiouru’s Tane North declared the joint winners.
Once he finishes a round of golf, Tatana is happy to revert to being father and husband. Imagine a week or two later, the winner of the US Masters fronting up and declaring he had made a mistake.
But in golf, being able to count correctly and live with your conscience is everything. All of which begs the question: What length of time must elapse before a tournament result is declared final?
Nepotism is not the answer
New Zealand’s succession plan for All Black coaches should not be just promoting Steve Hansen’s underlings and head-office favourites.
Deputy Ian Foster has suggested he would like the job if and when Hansen ever steps aside.
All that while most of our best coaching talent is being forced to head overseas. Surely Dave Rennie, Josef Schmidt, Jamie Joseph, even Warren Gatland and Super Rugby winner Chris Boyd have prior claims.
Foster got a support role with the big boys and he has often fronted as a spokesman, but he was never as illustrious a coach at the Chiefs as Rennie has been. Rennie brought much-needed change to the Chiefs. The All Blacks need that occasionally too.
If Foster was given the job we would just be continuing the Graham Henry pathway and ideology.
We also need new blood with our sevens team, of the Eric Rush ilk. No way would we contemplate an Inglese such as Ben Ryan who was so credited with turning the Fijians around.
Every Fijian knows how to play sevens and anyway, our Junior Tomasi Cama is understood to be interested in tackling that job in Suva.
Tough time for Turbos
The incomplete NPC rugby draw renders the competition rather silly.
Each year the Turbos miss out on playing three teams. One of them this season is Auckland, the only team they haven’t beaten and who this season look eminently beatable.
They also miss out on playing Counties Manukau and Tasman, which might be a good thing.
Had the Turbos been clinical this season and not had their lineout and ball-retention woes, they might have had four wins from four.
Albany last Sunday was frustration central for Manawatu fans. The Turbos showed they could score tries, but they kept gifting ball to North Harbour.
If they do that against Canterbury on Saturday, well, we saw what happened to our poor friends from Hawke’s Bay.