They didn’t.
After knocking out Alex Kirkpatrick and Gray Clapham 2 and 1 in the handicap matchplay semi-finals on Saturday, they beat Peter Stewart and Kelly Spring 4 and 3 in the title decider.
Stewart and Spring ended the admirable run of 32nd and bottom qualifiers Kit Goldsmith and Dave Mettrick in their semi.
Henwood, off a 4 handicap, was giving the shots in Sunday’s final. Christophers was on 13, Stewart 6 and Spring 14.
Stewart described it as “the Matt Henwood day” as his opponent made birdies on the second, third and fourth holes, another on the 10th and two more on the 13th and 14th.
The most memorable of those was on the par-4 third. Henwood topped his drive, then smoked a 3-wood to the right side of the green and sank a lengthy putt for birdie.
Christophers joked that Henwood kept “stealing my thunder”, but he played his part to ease the pressure, and it was his par getting a shot that finished it on 15.
Henwood and Christophers are members of the Electrinet Gisborne Park and Poverty Bay club. Christophers is the Park’s general manager.
Henwood has the chance to create local history as he and Craig Christophers are in the final of the Park’s equivalent to the Barns-Graham, the Te Kanawa Cup.
It is understood Allan White is the only person to have won the BG and Te K cups, but no one has won both in the same year.
The Te K final was supposed to be played on Sunday – the same day as the BG final, which would have raised a problem for Henwood.
The weather gods came to his rescue. The Park course was closed over the weekend, forcing the postponement of the Te K and subsidiary trophy finals.
Had it not been, the plan for Mike Christophers and Henwood was for Henwood to play in the Te K final in the morning and hope it finished early enough for him to whip over the Bay and join his mate in the BG final.
Meanwhile, it was murder on the dance floor in the Bryan Cup subsidiary final for Barns-Graham Cup round 1 and 2 losers.
“We got putted off the course,” said Pete Anderson after he and Marcus Gray lost 3 and 2 to Peter Clayton and Laurie Owen. “I reckon they holed 200 feet [61m] of putts between them.”
That performance was summed up by Owen when he sank a 10m birdie putt on the par-3 sixth hole for the half after teenager Gray put his tee shot to within a couple of feet.
“He sank some great putts,” Clayton said.
Mark Norman and Lee “Pikey” Hewson won the title no one wants to qualify for, the Barns-Graham Plate for those who don’t make the BG Cup top 32.
After surviving a back-nine semi-final comeback by Rowan Clark and Simon Jeune – they were 5-up after 11 holes before eventually winning on the 17th – Norman and Hewson defeated Darryl Grant and Jason Lloyd 5 and 4 in the final.
Hewson’s putter was hotter than a welding iron, prompting former BG champion Norman to comment: “Who said you couldn’t putt?”
TUESDAY – Veterans’ Stableford: V. Richardson 37, D. Keast 36, S. Andreassen 36, B. Read 35, P. Clayton 34, B. Morrissey 34.
SUNDAY – Men’s Stableford, Division 1: B. Morgan 37, M. McMenamin 35, A. White 35, M. Harris 35.
Division 2: C. Morton 41, C. Carmody 37, N. Jones 32, A. Baldwin 32, C. Hensley 32.
Twos: S. Andreassen, J. Situ, A. Reedy, J. Kerekere.
Nearest to pin: K. Tamatea.
SATURDAY – Men’s Stableford, Division 1: D. Jenkins 34, P. Anderson 33, D. Patumaka 33.
Division 2: K. Marshall 34, R. Chalmers 33, C. Morton 32.
Twos: A. Reedy.
Nearest to pin: A. Reedy.
Pātutahi
Tāwhirimātea didn’t get the memo.
That didn’t stop an intrepid field of golfers from turning up in celebratory mood for the second edition of the award-winning Pātutahi Māori Matariki Open on Friday.
Last week’s heavy rain forced the closure of the course and threatened to prevent any play in the tournament, which in its inaugural year won Event of the Year (community participation) at the 2025 NZ Golf national awards.
Organisers were always going to go ahead with the 19th hole hakari and, after discussions with the Tahi’s greenkeeping team, gave play the green light, albeit without carts.
It contributed to a reduced field of 64 and the original 28 teams registered were slashed to 11. Others who didn’t play turned up for the after-golf drinks and kai.
Co-organiser Kennedy Sarich said some of the older and medically cart-bound players decided to “get out there” via the Waewae Express and were “nothing short of inspiring”.
Sarich was also among the top scorers on the day. Not only did she win the women’s Stableford with 90-23-67, for 40 points, she was also part of the winning team – The Big M – comprising herself, partner Dom Wilson, Eddie Brown Jnr and his son Watene.
William Brown made the trip home from Rotorua, where he is chief superintendent at the Arikikapakapa course, to win the men’s gross with even-par 70. Frances Tupara (71) was the women’s overall net winner, and Watene Brown (80) won the junior gross.
These three won entries to next year’s Aotearoa Māori nationals – William Brown being a former winner of the senior men’s title.
Despite the setbacks, organisers were delighted with how it turned out and gave thanks to all the sponsors, helpers and players.
Sarich, who followed up her winning efforts with the second eagle of her golfing career on Sunday, said it was “a beautiful celebration of the new year and showcased the best of our members and our golfing community coming and spending the day together, remembering the year we’ve had and the ones we’ve lost, and looking upward for the year to come with good vibes and a whole lot of love”.
SUNDAY – Men’s Stableford, Division 1: L. Anania 41, H. Brown 39, E. Brown Jnr 37, T. Hindmarsh 37.
Division 2: M. Murphy 35, M. Pohatu 34, Z. Norris 33, M. Smith 33.
Women’s Stableford: S. Gray 33.
Twos: E. Brown Jnr.
Jackpot: E. Brown Jnr, K. Sarich.
Eagle: K. Sarich.
Men’s four-ball best ball quarter-finals: E. Brown Jnr/W. Brown def L. Anania/M. Pohatu; M. Murphy/Z. Norris def G. Brown/S. Pohatu; J. Tietjen/M. Smith def H. Brown/G. Hawea; T. Hindmarsh/A. Hindmarsh def B. McKenzie/H. Harris (played earlier).
FRIDAY – Māori Matariki Open, teams’ competition: The Big M (Eddie Brown Jnr, Dom Wilson, Kennedy Sarich, Watene Brown) 1st; OMG (Hamish Harris, Butch McKenzie, Jon Priestley, Frances Tupara) 2nd; Jax Turei (Tom Hindmarsh, Calypso Hindmarsh, Tini Hawea) 3rd; Pohutukawa (Anaru Reedy, Wade Wesche, Jack Edwards, Dave Waihaki) 4th; Purple Gee (Shannon Toa, Blue Toa, Beau Toa, Lou Kriel) 5th.
Men’s overall gross: William Brown 70.
Women’s overall net: Frances Tupara 71.
Junior overall gross: Watene Brown 80.
Women’s division, gross: C. Hindmarsh 89 on c/b from L. Holmberg.
Net: F. Tupara 71 on c/b from A. Tamanui-Nunn.
Stableford: K. Sarich 40, J. Edwards 33 from M. Wesche, K, Torrez, K. Utting, R. Hiko, C. Holland.
Division 1 men, gross: William Brown 70, W. Wesche 72.
Net: D. Russell 69, L. Anania 70.
Stableford: D. Wilson 37, S. Ratima 35 from J. Priestley, R. Foon, H. Harris, P. Milner, T. Hawea.
Division 2 men, gross: P. Hokianga 80, A. Hindmarsh 83.
Net: D. Williams 68, G. Brown 71.
Stableford: Blue Toa 35, R. Ratima 34 from B. McKenzie, G. Holland, Beau Toa, T. Green, D. Kahukoti.
9-hole Stableford winners: P. Rutene (women), A. Nimmo (men).
Women’s approaches: M. Wesche, S. Robertson.
Men’s approaches: H. Brown.
Women’s long drives: K. Sarich, T. Carrington.
Men’s long drives: H. Brown, H. Tupara.
Twos: D. Wilson, S. Ratima, Watene Brown.
Hardest-working golfers: L. Waitoa, R. Ratima.
Te Puia Hot Springs
Bill Clark showed flashes of his Poverty Bay-East Coast representative days in winning the men’s Stableford on Sunday with 78-12-66.
SUNDAY – Presidents Cup round 3, net, LGU: H. McClutchie 78.
Putting: I. Ngarimu 30.
Men’s Stableford: B. Clark 36, H. Rasmussen 33, D. Goldsmith 33.
Twos: P. Harrison, H. Rasmussen.