18 Feb 2019 at 13:19 | Published by: PatPenguin | Views: 11343 | News search

Tournament play  (Photo by New Zealand Minigolf Federation)

What a start to the 2019 Putting Tour for the New Zealand Minigolf Federation. February 16th saw 21 players battle it out on a very warm and windy Saturday afternoon for the Coachofgolf.com Classic. at Lilliputt's Safari and T Rex Alley Mini Golf in Auckland. The course was playing a tad slower than usual and the windy conditions caused a lot of sweeping of the course. All part of the fun of Minigolf.

The course par for Safari course is 43 and a number of players were expecting to be in the mid to late 30s. Round one saw a number of nerves coming through and some steady play but nothing amazing. John Ansley and Cameron Couper finished round one tied for the lead on -5 (38), with Darren Prole a shot back on -4 (39), Matt Ansley in fourth on -3 (40) and Murray Cramp coming in fifth on -2 (41).

Round two saw more of the same as round one but some players caught fire. Cramp aced three of the last four holes to finish -6 (37) and finished round two in tied-second with Couper who shot 40. Mr. Consistent John Ansley had another 38 to lead by two after two rounds on -10.

Round three saw some great play and more aces flowing. Couper aced the very tough 11th and finished with -4 (39). Ansley went two shots better with -6 (37) and Cramp one shot better with -7 (36). Heading into the last round Ansley Sr. lead on -16 (113), Cramp -15 (114), Couper -12 (117) and Ansley Jr -11 (118).

Ansley Sr. and Cramp had nervous starts to the final round and Couper and Ansley Jr. were playing well. After nine holes of the last round Ansley Sr and Cramp were tied on -16 with Couper and Ansley Jr. one shot back. Ansley Sr made a few uncharacteristic mistakes and fell off the pace. Couper took a 3 on 16 and fell a shot back too. Ansley Jr. and Cramp were tied with 6 holes to play. They traded twos with Cramp holing an 8 foot putt for two on 16. Under the pressure it was a great putt. Ansley Jr. lipped out for ace on 17 only for Cramp to ace 17 for the third time for the day and take a one shot lead playing the last. Ansley Jr. and Cramp both made twos on the last and Cramp had won his second Minigolf event.

Final scores for the top 4 were Cramp -19 (153), Ansley Jr. -18 (154), Couper -17 (155) and Ansley Sr. -16 (156).

The tournament wants to thank Fred Fruisen for being the sponsor for our event and also to Chromax Golf.

The next event on the Putting Tour is on Sunday, March 24 in Warkworth. Before that we have the big NZ Open at Lumberjax in Rotorua on March 9/10. It's not too late to enter so please enter and join us for a great weekend.

Article and photo courtesy of the New Zealand Minigolf Federation.

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