Inform Kobori one of players to beat
IT was touch and go there for a while but it now appears all the ducks are in a row at St Clair Golf Club this weekend.
The club is set to host the South Island strokeplay championships this weekend for the last time, with the first round starting today.
There had been doubt over whether the event would get under way at the start of the week because of Covid19 alert levels but it was decided to go through with the event late on Tuesday and that was confirmed after the shift to Level 1.
St Clair Golf Club professional Patrick Moore said with the changing of alert levels only a couple of players had pulled out and a strong field of about 70 players was ready to compete.
Moore said there were some top players lining up and the standard of golf was expected to be high.
One of the favourites is Kazuma Kobori, who is in hot form. He won the Southland and Otago strokeplay events last month and then finished runnerup in the Canterbury tournament.
He is bound to be challenged by upandcoming Aucklander Joshua Bai.
The 14yearold has won many titles as a junior, including a world title at 11, and has a plusfive handicap, which indicates his ability.
Sumin Kang, from Queenstown, and Maddie May, from the Russley Golf Club,are the the players to watch in the women’s division.
Moore said the greens were in great nick and the whole
course was in good shape. Fine weather was forecast for the weekend which should help scoring.
This the ninth year in a row the strokeplay championships will have taken place at St Clair but it is the last time the course will host the event in the foreseeable future.
Moore said a few years ago Golf New Zealand had decided to keep events such as the strokeplay championships at the one course. But thinking had since changed and it had now been decided to move the event around the South Island.
Moore said he could understanding the thinking but the championships had been good for the course.
Moore said the club was in good heart at the moment as people flocked to golf.
He said many people realised through the lockdown and beyond that golf was a good sport for them. It was an easy sport to play, either by yourself or with a group.
Membership at the club stood at about 700 now compared to less than 500 five years ago.