Jennian Homes Waikato Winter Strokeplay
Sam Hunt dominates second day to be leading nine under par
For the first two rounds of the Waikato Winter Strokeplay Championships played over two days, one player has been dominant. Sam Hunt, Rotorua will take a four shot cushion into Tomorrow's (Sunday) final two rounds. He is at nine under par and the tournament record of 13 under is simply their for his taking given what he has shown in the first 36 holes. On Friday in perfect conditions, his course management, approach shots and putting on superb greens he had first use of was exemplary and he recorded a four birdie, one eagle 67. In The second round played in steady rain throughout, Hunt again managed the course well, his placement of shots on a course that can be tight again outstanding and he laid up many times when others in his group had gone for longer shots. Despite the wear on the greens of 120 players ahead of him, his putting was again accurate, leaving himself with"no stress" pars and on at least two occasions an ounce of luck would have recorded another two birdies. As it was in a truly relaxed manner he comfortably birdied three holes on the way home to open up the four shot margin.
He recently returned from achieving a Bachelor Of Science degree at the UniversityOf Las Vegas with a golf scholarship and the experience of playing alongside the top amateurs in the United States on long tough courses showed and mingling with the likes of top professional on the tour Chris Riley and Adam Scott, former graduates of The UNLV rebels was demonstrated throughout.		 Visitors to the Lochiel course for Sunday's final two rounds will be treated to a rare opportunity of witnessing an exceptional home grown talent.
And he will play alongside another, Nick Gillespie, Hastings, who put the cold putter he had had on the first day when three putted three times in a par round in which he had hit fifteen greens to much better use in (yesterdays) second round. Gillespie beaten finalist in the NZ Amateur was on fire in the first nine holes birdieing his first three holes from close in and narrowly missing another on the fourth. He birdied the stroke hole one fifth and nailed a pearler on the next. He left his approach on the par three seventh ten feet short but up and downed to maintain the momentum and on the next hit to within 30mm of the pin for a tap in. So six under after nine he had a share of the lead and he hit solidly throughout the back nine but lost birdie chances on the short par five 13th. A bogey from a shanked second shot on fourteen was the only blemish on a solid round of golf.		 He is looking forward to the opportunity of playing alongside Hunt for the final 36 holes and it should be one of the top amateur exposes of golf in the area for a long time. They tee off with Ross Valentine, Remuera who notched up his second sub par round, a four birdie 69 to be in third place at four under par at 8.11 am for their third round.
One of the favoured players Leighton James, The Grange, came to grief playing alongside Hunt. He had birdied the first hole and the margin of two between them was one shot after four holes, But James hooked his Titleists twice into the Waikato River on the 485 m par five fifth hole and recorded a triple bogey eight from which he never recovered.
Thirteen players are under par going into the final 36 holes. The field has been cut to 50 players with a total of 149 or better.		 Leaderboard:
135 Sam Hunt, Rotorua, 67,68
139 Nicholas Gillespie, Hastings, 72,67
140 Ross Valentine, Remuera, 71,69
141 Andrew Henare, Maraenui, 73,68
141 Kevin Smith, Tauranga, 72, 69
142 Perry Hayman, Manor Park, 69,73
142 Park Eun Shin, Hamilton 72,70
142 Brad Stuart, Windsor 71,71
143 Lee Young-Jae, Springfield 75, 68
143 Scott Wightman, Muriwai, 74, 69
143 Gavin Cortesi, Tokoroa, 73, 70
143, Ben Jujnovich, Redwood Park, 71, 72
143 Ewen Westergaard, Manawatu 71, 72
144, Mathew Perry, Hamilton 75, 69
144 Travis O'Connell, The Grange, 75, 69
144 Ben Wallace, Auckland 74,70
144 Jason Mann, Auckland 70,74
144 Brendon Muller, Mt Maunganui 73, 71
144 Mark Smith, Springfield, 72, 72
144 Thomas Lannie, Peninsula, 72, 72
145 Leighton James, The Grange 69, 76
145 Jim Cusdin, Horsham Downs, 70,75
145 Fraser Wilkin, Auckland, 73,72
145 Kieran Muir, Western Bay 73, 72