Jennian Homes Waikato Winter Strokeplay

Hastings golfer Nick Gillespie continued his golden year of 2007 when he claimed another prestigious title at a national ranked trial tournament at Lochiel this afternoon when he took out the Waikato Winter Strokeplay Championship title.
The 19 year old adds this to the North Island Amateur he won on his former home course, Belmont in Wanganui and the runner up finish in the
NZ Amateur Championship at Hamilton's St Andrews course.

Playing with recently returned from a golf scholarship in the United States, Sam Hunt, who had dominated the first two days, Gillespie started the day four shots adrift.

He had come from a long way back by birdieing six of the first nine holes of the second round Saturday to shoot the best score of that round.

Playing conditions were difficult at the start of the 36 holes today (Sunday) heavily overcast, dark and steady rain and neither player made any progress on the first nine holes that took three hours to complete. Hunt missed his opportunity to clinch the deal then by failing to nail the birdies on the par fives that his partners took advantage of keeping in the game.

When Gillespie eagled the par five first hole, his tenth, and the skies cleared to a brilliant sunny day, so too did his confidence rise and he made some excellent par saves and two birdies for a 68 that brought him within a shot of Hunt starting the final round.

At the turn with nine holes to play, Hunts dominance had disappeared as he had had three bogeys to be two over for the round and Nicholas not playing with any additional assurance had also dropped one shot from two bogeys to be all tied up at eight under.

Both players had the opportunity to tie it up on the next three holes, but a two shot swing on the par three 12th could have sealed it for Gillespie. Hunt had failed to get up and down from the back of the green, while Gillespie nailed a nice birdie from three metres and took a two shot lead.

But the reverse happened on the next hole, the 13th, with Hunt playing a superb approach shot from off the fairway and placed his chip to the green close for an easy birdie.
But Gillespie fluffed his chip off the bank to stay up there and his next shot rolled well past the hole and he could not save his par.

Tied up even again, Hunt laid up his drive to 14 and dragged his approach left while Gillespie pushed his approach through to the back of the green. Hunt failed to get up and down while Gillespie nailed a great par save. On the next hole, a testing par three, both made great par saves from drives sent twelve metres past the pin.

Twice on the sixteenth hole Gillespie tried to gift the hole but Hunt was unable to take advantage from a superb drive to the middle of the fairway.

But he certainly drew level on the penultimate hole placing his iron shot to one metre of the pin and claiming the birdie.

Hunt finally lost the tournament from pushing his last drive wide and on a down slope making chances of a winning birdie on the last hole difficult.
Seizing his chance the competitive Gillespie, teeing off last, hit his drive as hard and as high as he could, hoping to draw the ball a little.

He could not have placed it better and his second to the green side bunker next to the pin was a match winner. He delicately placed his sand iron to about a metre from the pin leaving Hunt to make a chip in from off the back if there was to be a playoff. That did not happen and Gillespie's name is added to an illustrious group to have won this title.

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