NZ World Cup Golf Team To Play Australia

New Zealand World Cup golf team to square up against Australian team in Canterbury Provincial Championship

The New Zealand women’s golf team will test their preparation for October’s world amateur championship when they line up against the Australian team at the Canterbury Provincial Golf Championship later this week.

Penny Newbrook (21), Enu Chung (16) and Sarah Nicholson (19) will take on Australia in a special teams’ match as a feature of the tournament.

The fourth member of the New Zealand World Cup team, Stacey Tait, is not competing this week as she is playing in the USA.

Newbrook, the New Zealand strokeplay champion, Chung and Nicholson have been in training camp in Te Awamutu.

They will be treating the event as a stepping stone toward their tilt at the Espirito Santo world amateur teams’ championship at Rio Mar Country Club, Puerto Rico on October 20 to 23. The trio will be seeking to improve their showing overseas after their disappointing ninth place for New Zealand in the Queen Sirikit Cup Asia Pacific international tournament in China earlier this year. Australia, New Zealand, Canterbury and the South Island will play off in a teams’ event on Friday.

The Australian World Cup team members playing in the Canterbury tournament are Sarah Kemp (18), Bree Turnbull (19), Katy Jarochowicz (21), Sarah-Jane Kenyon (20) and Heidi McCulkin (21).

Many of the top players will be using the event as a final preparation for the National Inter-Provincial Tournament at Palmerston North on October 5 to 9. Canterbury’s top players will use the event to finalise the playing order of their inter-provincial team which will be announced at the close of play on Sunday. The tournament has been hosted by the Christchurch Golf Club at Shirley since 1907. The championship event will be played over three days, starting September 3. From the two strokeplay qualifying rounds the top 64 players will compete for four trophies.

Also in the field are talented 13 year olds Eunice Jin and Monica Tulisi, both from the Christchurch club. Jin was the Canterbury women’s junior golfer of the year for 2003.

Becky Walsh was the top qualifier last year winning the Betty Ensor Cup. Liz Douglas has won this trophy 8 times since 1986 and is competing again this year. Kerrin Starr, the professional at the Christchurch Golf Club, won it in 1993.

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