Moments like his birdie on the 18th, which saw Reynolds go into the 18-hole break 1-down, and a 6m birdie putt on the 27th, which he said “gave me a lifeline” at 2-down heading into the home stretch.
Loffler won the 29th with a par to go 3-up with seven to play. Reynolds won the 30th, then birdied the 31st to go 1-down, and it was a tied ball game when Loffler 3-putted to lose the 33rd.
A brilliant 60m pitch to within 30cm of the cup on the 34th for a gimme birdie put Reynolds 1-up, and he had the chance to seal victory with a 3m putt on the 35th only to leave it short.
Reynolds found the green on the 36th in regulation while Loffler pushed his second into the right bunker. He took two more shots to get on the green and conceded after Reynolds’ birdie attempt.
“I had my chances, but just missed key putts at vital times,” Loffler said. “Brad played well in the last six holes or so [for a] well-deserved win. Was a great battle, went up and down virtually the whole match. Played in good Gisborne Park spirit.”
Electrinet Park president Josh Hayes (left) with intermediate men’s champion James Witika.
James Witika was counting his lucky stars after a parked tractor played its part in his second-chance H.H. Barker Cup intermediate title win.
Witika defeated Kuri Collier on the 37th hole of an epic battle that had more drama than the Superman ride at Movie World.
Witika, who won the crown in 2024, was 4-up after 18 holes and 3-up teeing off the 28th.
Collier won four holes on the trot to be 1-up playing the short par-3 32nd (14th).
Witika’s tee shot was heading out of bounds only for his ball to hit an old tractor in the carpark and rebound back into play.
Witika made his par to win the hole and square the match. He went on to win the 35th to go 1-up, Collier won the 36th to send it to extra holes, and a par to Witika on the 37th (the 18th) ended the match.
Witika lost to Shaun Pahina in the semi-finals the previous weekend, but Park has a ruling in place that if a player is unavailable for the final, the person he beat in the previous match returns to take his place. Pahina pulled out on Wednesday.
Heath Tupara (right) with club president Josh Hayes after top seed Tupara won the junior men’s crown on club champs finals day at the Electrinet Park course.
Heath Tupara underlined his No 1 seeding with victory in the E.R. Brown Cup junior men’s 18-hole final.
Tupara charged to a 5-up lead after 10 holes against Dave Rameka, then weathered a mini-comeback as his opponent won the 11th and 12th holes, before closing it out 3 and 2.
Poverty Bay
If Matt Henwood adds another feat to his history-making golfing year, he will never forget an outrageous putt that helped get him there.
Henwood faces Dan Collier in the senior men’s club championship 36-hole matchplay final at the Awapuni Links this Saturday.
He earned his place with a 2-up win over regular golfing cohort Craig Palmer in an absorbing semi-final duel.
The pair had three dress rehearsals in the days leading up to the big dance – Palmer won two of those and the other was halved.
But the day itself belonged to former Bay of Plenty rugby representative Henwood, who stood tall in the clutch moments.
Perhaps the defining hole of a contest where neither could get away from the other was the 17th hole.
Henwood made an excellent sand save for par; Palmer was unable to get up and down and made bogey to go 1-down.
Then came a climax fitting of a Hollywood sports movie. Palmer hit a quality second shot to about 5m from the pin on the par-4 18th, while Henwood’s approach ended at least 7m past the hole on the right side of the green.
Facing a treacherous downhill slider, Henwood did what he’s been doing all year with the flatstick … he attacked.
The ball appeared to be gaining speed as it approached the hole, hit it square on, bouncing from side to side and dropping in to the cheers of a small 19th-hole gallery.
Had it missed, Henwood would have been facing a putt of at least 2m coming back.
Such is golf and Palmer had no complaints, having played his part in a memorable match.
Henwood, a dual member of the Poverty Bay and Electrinet Park clubs, has already written his own chapter in Tairāwhiti golfing history in winning the Te Kanawa Cup men’s pairs (with Craig Christophers) and Barns-Graham Cup men’s pairs (with Mike Christophers) in the same year.
He was a surprise losing quarter-finalist in the Park senior champs and to get his hands on the Poverty Bay counterpart, he must conquer a quality opponent with plenty of street-cred.
Collier this year shifted to Poverty Bay from Electrinet Park, where he has won six senior club championship crowns, including 2025.
He didn’t have to swing a club in his semi-final as Anaru Reedy conceded due to a family commitment out of town.
Glen Udall’s brilliant 1-under 35 for the front nine that featured birdies on the first, fourth and sixth holes set up victory over Jordyn Haley in the intermediate semi-finals.
But teenager Haley pushed him all the way to the 18th, where he lipped the hole for a birdie that would have forced a sudden-death playoff.
Udall’s final opponent is Ross Chalmers, who beat fellow vet Vance Richardson earlier in the week.
Gray Clapham and Cary Hensley will don the metaphorical boxing gloves in the junior final after both won their semis on the 15th – Clapham against Nigel Jones; Hensley over Duncan Bush.
Teenager William Edginton is a gas torch-hot favourite to win the endeavour title. The 15-year-old shot 90-24-66 to beat a gallant 76-year-old Murray Smith on the 18th in their semi played off handicap.
His final opponent is Brian Read, 63 years older than Edginton and on a 33 handicap, who thrashed Brent Croskery 5 and 4. The final is off the stick.
SUNDAY – Men’s Stableford Division 1: K. Marshall 36, M. McMenamin 35, M. Harris 35, B. Colbert 34.
Division 2: C. Carmody 40, J. Kerekere 40, R. Gibson 39.
Twos: C. Carmody 2, M. Norman, L. Hewson, L. Pollitt, D. Pirimona, M. Harris, D. Keown.
Nearest to pin: L. Pollitt.
Jackpot: C. Carmody.
SATURDAY – Men’s Stableford, Division 1: J. Jenner 41, B. Anderson 38, T. Goldsmith 37.
Division 2: J. Castles 40, A. Baldwin 39, K. Marshall 37.
Twos: J. Castles, L. Owen.
Nearest to pin: R. Morley.
THURSDAY (Aug 27) – Men’s Stableford, Division 1: J. Rowe 42, V. Richardson 39, W. Mortleman 37.
Division 2: Reid Fletcher 40, C. Poole 40, P. Humphreys 39.
Twos: B. Croskery, I. Murphy, M. Henwood.
Nearest to pin: S. Harbottle.
SUNDAY (Aug 23) – Men’s Stableford: S. Andreassen 42, B. Colbert 39, W. Mortleman 39.
Division 2: L. Hewson 35, A. Baldwin 33, N. Jones 33, C. Hensley 33.
Twos: D. Pirimona, P. Grogan, S. Andreassen, A. Reedy.
Nearest to pin: P. Grogan.
SATURDAY (Aug 22) – Twos: T. Goldsmith, A. Reedy.
Nearest to pin: C. Simpson.
THURSDAY (Aug 20) – Men’s Stableford, Division 1: B. Anderson 41, J. Rowe 39, A. White 34, A. Kirkpatrick 34.
Division 2: B. Croskery 42, K. Goldsmith 37, M. Thomas 36, P. Humphreys 36.
Twos: C. Morton, C. Palmer.
Nearest to pin: C. Morton.
Pātūtahi
Hukanui Brown is a win away from becoming Pātūtahi’s most prolific senior men’s club champion.
But the big man was almost upstaged by big brother in a sibling semi-final that went all … the … way.
Brown beat Eddie Brown jnr 1-up and will face Tini Hawea in the 36-hole matchplay final this weekend.
A win would be Brown’s ninth senior crown and eighth in a row, having won his first in 2007.
Last year’s title drew him level with Tony Burns, who won it from 1976 to 1982, then again in 1984.
Hukanui was 2-down early in the game and 1-down after nine. He birdied the 10th and 11th for wins and won the 14th with a par.
Eddie, dormie-2 down, birdied the 17th to stay alive and just missed a birdie putt on the 18th that would have sent the match into sudden death.
“The older bro made me work for that one,” Hukanui said.
Eddie, a five-time senior champ himself, lamented missed opportunities in a match he said was “there for the taking [but] them’s the breaks”.
Hawea advanced to the final with a 3 and 2 defeat of Rios Moleta.
Ash Hindmarsh beat Adam Brodie in the intermediate semis to set up a final against Daniel Williams, who defeated 2023 champ Pat Hokianga.
A Williams family double remains a possibility. Daniel’s son Jack beat Michael Broad in the junior semis and will meet Madison Murphy in the final after he ousted Kim Dodgshun.
Finals day will also feature the endeavour men’s title decider between Simon Pittar and Ian Tietjen, the senior women’s final between Denise Johnston and Calypso Stills-Hindmarsh, and the junior women’s final between Charlie Holland and Lou Kriel.
SUNDAY – Men’s Stableford, Division 1: D. Williams 37, E. Brown jnr 36, G. Brown 35, H. Brown 34, T. Hawea 34.
Division 2: R. Pardoe 40, J. Williams 40, M. Murphy 37, K. Dodgshun 36, D. Johnston 35.
Women’s Stableford: D. Johnston 35.
9-hole Stableford: D. Quinn 19, I. Tietjen 18, S. Fookes 17.
FRIDAY – Meat pack 9-hole Stableford, Division 1: G. Hawea 18, R. Mottart 18, D. Johnston 18, A. Brodie 17, G. Brown 16.
Division 2: G. Maude 20, J. Phillips 19, M. White 19, H. Humble 19, S. Helm 19.
Te Puia Hot Springs
The club champs got underway, Peter Harrison rolled back the clock and Aomihi Cook charged into a cup final in an action-packed Sunday at the Springs.
The junior men were in round 1 action in the club champs – Ken Lewis putting away Putahi Morice 5 and 4 and James Forrester jnr edging Peter Ngarimu 1-up.
After a series of century-plus rounds, Harrison found his mojo in winning the men’s Stableford with 88-28-60, for 42 points – his best round since March of last year.
Cook dished out a 5 and 4 defeat to Robyn Ngatai to book a Handicap Cup women’s final date this Sunday with Iritana Ngarimu.
SUNDAY – Men’s Stableford: P. Harrison 42, I. Logan 39, K. Lewis 39.
Women’s net: H. McClutchie 88-22-66, I. Ngarimu 104-31-73, P. Summersby 103-26-77.
Tahunga
Ann Butt put her Tahunga Ladies Classic Stableford-winning effort down to one factor … “no bunkers”.
The now Poverty Bay and former Tahunga member racked up 25 points to win the 12-19 section with easily the best score of the day. She also won the pairs with Leigh Fletcher.
The men’s club champs are being held this weekend.
TUESDAY – Tahunga Ladies Classic, pairs Stableford: A. Butt/L. Fletcher 37; J. Cave/K. Johnson 35.
Stableford, up to 11: K. Johnson 18, K. Sarich 15.
12-19: A. Butt 25, F. Tupara 19.
Non-golfers: A. Zaloumis 17, A. Hurne 16.
All-in approach: T. Lewis.
Approaches: K. Johnson, J. Cave, Y. Brownlie.
Long drives: R. Taewa, K. Torrez, A. Zaloumis.
Waikohu
COMING UP: SATURDAY, Waikohu open closing tournament, Canadian mixed foursomes and men’s sections, cup of tea 10am, tee-off 11am, inquiries to Karauria Ruru 0274041752, Eftpos available.