Sunday, May 02, 2010

Campbell's coming to Scotland after beating NZ pros

New Zealand amateur representative Ben Campbell held off the challenge from more experienced golf professionals to win the Tauranga Open today.
The Masterton 18-year-old fired a 66 to finish on 19-under-par to become the first amateur in more than two years to win a Charles Tour event in New Zealand.
Campbell is only the second amateur to win the Tauranga Open, following on from local star Josh Geary who won five years ago.
He finished five shots ahead of North Harbour professional Michael Hendry, last year's winner who had the compensation of claiming the top prizemoney cheque.
It was an excellent week for the amateurs with fellow-international Ryan Fox finishing third on 13-under par after firing a four-under 66 today.
The big mover on the final day was local professional Jared Pender, who fired a seven under 63 on Saturday and 64 today to finish fourth on 12-under after just making the 36-hole cut.
There was a strong effort from local golfers with Pender in fourth ahead of amateurs James Hamilton of Omanu who was seventh, Kieran Muir of Omokoroa and Nick Meyer of Mt Maunganui sharing ninth.
Campbell, who beat Danny Lee to win the national under-23 title two years ago, said this victory was just as sweet.
"It means a lot to win this. I came in feeling that my game was not quite there but my short game was great all week," said Campbell, who finished runner-up in the Australian Amateur earlier in the month.
"I learned in that final that the winner Matt Jager had a short game that was much better than mine. So that is pretty much what I have concentrated on since and it paid dividends this week. The chipping and putting was really good.
"If I missed a green I felt quite confident with my ability to get it up and down and really attack the flag with my chipping.
"There were some excellent professionals here this week with tour cards and playing with the likes of Mattie Holten and Michael Hendry was great and I learned a lot from them. It's always good to get a win under your belt and to do it against the pros is even better."
Campbell will head to Europe in a month where he will compete in a number of high profile events including the British Amateur and the Scottish Amateur stroke-play .
He started the day with a three-shot advantage from Wellington professional Andrew Green who faded out of contention today.
The charge early came from defending champion Hendry who got within three shots after six holes but was unable to kick on as Campbell weathered the storm.
The amateur produced his fourth straight round in red numbers and was able to keep his poise while his challengers were unable to mount a serious threat.

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