Sports Roundup Golfers get into the swing of things with new lineup
Shandon shreds in the opening round of interclub golf while Eastbourne rolls their 2008/2009 nemesis in advancing to the regional bowls playoffs. Golf Shandon Golf Club made the best possible start to the 2009 Otaki Cup competition, with a one-sided victory over Masterton at the Miramar Golf Club. The 13-2 victory puts them in outright first after the first week of play, sending an ominous warning to rivals Miramar who, as hosts for the January 24 fixture, had the bye. The win was the most emphatic of all the weekend?s fixtures, with Captain Phil Aickin leading from the front and Richard Pegg justifying his inclusion with some wonderful shotplay. The team for this year?s competition has somewhat of a new look to it, with three of the four players from last season absent from the fairway. Former NZ amateur champion Andrew Green has turned professional, while Jonny Dittmer and Chan Young Chung have also made themselves unavailable for the competition. Shandon will be keen to make 2009 their year after missing out on the interclub title by a solitary point in 2008. Bowls Eastbourne turned the tides on recent losses to Johnsonville on January 31 in the playoffs for the Wellington interclub competition. On a hot summer day at Naenae, the men in the green shirts made light work of the opposition in both the premier and premier reserve grades. Most notably, Blake Signal turned on a dazzling display of bowls to national pairs champion Rob Ashton 25-3, a win made more special by the fact his daughter was born in the early hours of the Saturday morning. The victorious premier and premier reserve teams now move into the regional playoffs on February 21 at Taranaki as part of Bowls New Zealand?s pathways competition. If successful against opponents from the Wanganui, Kapiti and Taranaki centres, Eastbourne will book themselves a spot in the national playoffs later in the season.
