(Clearwater Golf Club, Christchurch)
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A strong southerly wind struck the Clearwater Golf Club course midway through the final round of the inaugural New Zealand Women¹s Open golf championship.What was shaping as a tight finish with the top seven players separated by no more than four shots suddenly turned into a one-horse race as only Frenchwoman Gwladys Nocera withstood the buffeting wind and a sharp drop in temperature.
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rnWhen the wind swept the course, the final threesome was playing the eighth hole and overnight leader, Sarah Oh (New South Wales), still held a one-shot advantage over Nocera with Queenslander, Katherine Hull, three shots off the lead. However, the dramatic swing in the weather completely changed the complexion of
rnthe championship. At the end of the 54 holes, Nocera, after a 3-under par 69, stood alone at eight-under par and the champion by six shots from a
rngroup of four.
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rnHull was in that quartet at two-under as were fellow Australians, Nikki Garrett and Sarah Kemp, and Korean professional Bobea Park, who spent most of her amateur career in Auckland. The biggest casualty of the weather was 20-year-old Oh, who had been composed and confident for 45 holes then lost the plot when she lost the
rnlead to Nocera for the first time after the Frenchwoman had her fifth birdie on the 10th. Oh was par for the day through 11 holes before bogeying the 12th. That preceded three successive double-bogeys and a bogey at 17, which resulted in a back nine of eight-over 44 and a round of eight-over 80, which dropped her back to a share of sixth.
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rnNocera was perhaps the only player who welcomed the wind. "I like the wind, I enjoy it blowing because it pushes me to play even better. Sometimes I play too easy and make stupid mistakes and it (wind) makes me concentrate." She also said she had played really well, especially on the greens, to be 5-under through 11 holes. "When the wind came I tried hard not to make mistakes. I knew I was going to make bogeys and so was everybody else it didn¹t really matter as long as I didn¹t make more than bogeys." Nocera said she was conscious not to ground the club behind the ball on the greens and was forced at times to remove her visor and glasses before putting.
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rnFor Nocera, winner of last year¹s European Tour Order of Merit, it was her first win "Down Under" after playing the Australian tournaments for the last seven years and she pledged to return next year to defend her crown.
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rnAuckland 14-year-old Cecilia Cho, 14, had the honour of not only being the leading amateur but also the leading New Zealander. She was one-under after 10m but despite a faltering finish, which included three double-bogeys, she managed a 79 to be tied for 14th, a shot ahead of Wellington professional Sarah Nicholson and Northland amateur Caroline Bon.
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rnNearly 5400 paying spectators attended the three-day championship, which pleased promoter Bob Tuohy, who has the rights along with New Zealand Golf to run the tournament for another two years.