From left, in Germany colours - Phil Turrall, Wendy Patrick, Helen Turrall & Neil Patrick
Another Olympic Finish: Two Great Weeks in Fiji, Two Great Tournaments in Denarau
Friday 6 September 2024
With the closing ceremony and dinner tonight, in yet the second Olympic themed evening at the Sheraton Fiji Golf & Beach Resort in as many weeks, the second of two tournaments, hosted by PaR nz Golfing Holidays comes to a close.
This last week’s event was a mixed teams event, The Sheraton Fiji Villa Teams Challenge, played over four rounds and scored by the original ISTAS scoring system introduced some years ago by John Cooper.
108 golfers from across Australia and New Zealand, and from 40 different clubs entered the tournament. Over 50% of entrants were new faces to the tournament, with approx. 55% male and 45% female, and 75% of the field from New Zealand.
Top honors went to the team known as The Fairview Flyers, husband wife combos from the Bay of Plenty club of that name; the Patrick’s, Neil & Wendy joined by the Turrall’s, Philip & Helen. Their final score of 868 PaR nz Stableford points was 2 shots clear of the field. Team consistency was the key for an all-round performance from all members over the four rounds.
In second place were the Bay of Plenty Steamers – an all-male team lead by Graeme Murphy (Tara Iti), with John Taylor (Te Arai) and Mount members Peter Cooney & Tim Preston.
The Reckless Drivers #2 came third with 859 points, 7 shots back. Mark & Kim Higgie hail from Tieke, with Brendon and Anita Lafferty from Cambridge – well done to the mighty Waikato.
The best placed Australian team were the Invaders 1 with two members from St Michaels, Lu Min Yong and Ben Yong, with Michael Pilkington (Castle Hill) and Mark McLaurin-Smith who is a Riverside Oaks member. The Invaders 1 finished with 856 points.
Another Waikato team, named the Hopefuls came in 5th place – yet another husband / wife combo with the Nixon’s, Bruce and Pam joined by the Bodle’s from Cambridge, Tim & Karen. Bruce is a member of Tieke while Pam is also a Cambridge member. Points scored 849, just 3 ahead of 6th place getters The 4 Uros.
The 4 Uros – long time competitors in this event were led by villa owner Karen Cater with partner Steve Hinton, Mangawhai members joined by two other long-time supporters of PaR nz Golfing Holidays Karen Purdy and Susan Binks from Pupuke.
With team prizes awarded tonight to 7th place, the North Shore team of Jill and David Ambler, with Jill and Graeme Udy had 844 points.
Known as A Shambles Fore Shore they just snuck in ahead of Underparfect, by one shot. Team members were Sue & Simon Cox (Waipu) with Chris Mackenzie from Matamata, and husband Paul who is a member of Martinborough.
Last week, PaR nz Golfing Holidays hosted an ‘all-ladies’ tournament, The Denarau Women’s Golf Classic, with 96 players entered. At last week’s Friday awards ceremony, the winners were Judith Griffiths paired with newbie Tisha Searles, both members of the Indooroopilly in Queensland.
Runners-up were the Kiwi pair, Suzanne Cookson and Penny Stonyer both from the Riversdale Beach GC. The pairing were leaders after Round 1 and scored well to finish with 161 points. The surprise of the day was the 3rd placed pairing of Anita Lafferty and Kim Higgie from Cambridge and Tieke GC. They kept themselves in touch with the leaders after 2 rounds but their rockstar score of 84 points in Round 3 bolted them to win the bronze medal on countback with 160 points.
Last week’s ladies event was a 54 hole tournament playing 4BBB, Foursomes and Combined Stableford.
In total PaR nz Golfing Holidays hosted over 220 players and partners at the Sheraton Fiji Golf & Beach Resort, partnered with the Denarau Golf & Racquet Club.
Most stayed at the Sheraton in six or seven night packages – with add-ons to other islands. PaR nz Golfing Holidays estimated that over 700,000 FJD was contributed to the local economy in accommodation, food and beverage, golf, general shopping and tourist activities. The total prize pool spread over daily and final scores was valued at over $30,000 FJD.
In partnership with the Sheraton Fiji, PaR nz Golfing Holidays confirm the dates for the 2025 Denarau Women’s Golf Classic and the Sheraton Fiji Villa teams Challenge as being the 14-19 September for the ladies, followed by the Villa Challenge, starting on the 20 September 2025. Full details and entry forms to be released in the coming week.
Full score board follows:
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