Coved-19 Course Update.

Yesterday the New Zealand Government announced that they will be allowing minimal essential maintenance to be undertaken on golf courses, so Paraparaumu Beach Golf Club has been saved.

Greenskeepers will soon be out cutting the grass on the greens and fairways, and the course will be in its usual top class condition when we finally get the OK to start playing again.

The Government announced that they will be allowing minimal essential maintenance to be undertaken on golf courses, with Sports and Recreation Minister Grant Robertson saying;

“The implications if the maintenance does not occur regularly, including for community organisations, which is why we have moved quickly on these decisions”.

“The Government has agreed that urgent upkeep and maintenance of biological assets will be able to go ahead after the Easter Weekend.”

“This includes non-plantation nurseries, stadia turf, and golf and bowling club turf maintenance.”

Coved-19. Golf Course Closed.

Since the New Zealand Government imposed a lockdown on the whole county, except for essential services, like supermarkets etc, lots of businesses have already gone into liquidation, and many others are struggling, one casualty is our golf courses.

My course, Paraparaumu Beach Golf Club has been in lockdown for two weeks now, this means no maintenance, the groundskeepers are also locked out. This is utter madness, the greens and fairways need regular cutting, or in a very short space of time they will not be greens and fairways anymore. The company would then be forced into liquidation, unable to pay for a complete rescue of the  site from a wilderness back into a fabulous golf course once more.

All of this because the Government will not allow a couple of groundsmen to mow some grass, at least twice a week. There would be no social distancing problems, two men on  mowers cutting greens and fairways, with no else around on the whole golf course.

NZ Golf and the Government should get together and address this problem, pretty quickly, otherwise in a couple of months time there will be no golf courses left.

Is this happening where you are?

THE PLAYERS Championship. Matsuyama Leads, Shoots -9 under, As the PGA Bans Fans Due to the Corona Virus

Hideki Matsuyama from Japan leads The PLAYERS Championship after the first round at TPC Sawgrass in Florida, with a course record equaling -9 under 63.

Hideki / getty

Hideki leads The Players Championship by two shots after his record equaling -9 under 63, helped by an Eagle three at the par five 9th;

“I knew if I made that putt, if I made eagle there, I would be close to a course record, and I’m happy it went in.”

Harris English is tied in second place, those two shots back at -7 under, with  Christiaan Bezuidenhout, South Africa, and Si Woo Kim,South Korea, following their opening rounds of 65.

Harris said this is a tough course;

“A course like Sawgrass is one of the tougher ones we play all year tee to green and if you’re not hitting it well, it’s going to be tough to get around this place.”

Christiaan had been given some good advice on how to play TPC Sawgrass by fellow countryman Loui Oosthuizen, in a practice round;

“He knows this course, knows how to play it, where to miss, where not to miss.”

“He gave me some great insight into this course and some lines off the tee and stuff like that. It was nice to take advantage of that and post a low one.”

Defending Champion, and World #1,  Rory McIlroy, needed to birdie his last three holes to get in at even par 72, something he has done before;

“So I don’t know, just that little memory of doing that a few years ago sort of sparked a few good swings and a couple of nice putts at the end, and it’s definitely something to build on going into tomorrow morning,”

 

 

 

 

 

Tyrrell Hatton Wins Arnold Palmer Invitational.

Tyrrell Hatton from England  wins the Arnold Palmer Invitational, his maiden PGA Tour title, at Bay Hill in Florida.Tyrrell and first PGA Tour trophy / getty

Tyrrell carded a final round +2 over par 74, but his overall score, -4 under was good enough to win him the Arnold Palmer Invitational trophy;

“O my God, I can’t believe it.”

“I actually thought I played myself out of it when I made double on eleven.”

“When I saw the scoreboard on 14th green, I realized I had a one-shot lead. I was a little bit surprised.”

“To hold on and win here, it such an iconic venue. I’m over the moon.”

Marc Leishman of Australia was second, one shot back at -3 under, he recorded a last round of +1 over par 73.

Last weeks winner Sungjae Im, South Korea, was third at -3 under, with final round of +1 over 73.

World #1 Rory McIlroy was still operating in reverse in his last round, carding +4  over 76 making it three consecutive over par rounds. He finished T5 at even par.

Bay Hill had been brutal to play for most of the week, major championship tough.

There were a few rounds under par today, albeit at -1 under, but it was the lowest score of the day. That score helped Keith Mitchell, and Joel Dahmen earn exemptions to The Open at Royal St George’s Golf Club on 19th July.

Arnold Palmer Invitational, Tyrrell Hatton Has 54 Hole Lead.

On a day where only one player carded a round under par Tyrrell Hatton of England claimed the 54 hole lead in the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill, Florida.

54 hole leader Tyrrell /  getty

Tyrrell signed for a +1 over par 73, but maintained his position at the top pf the Arnold Palmer Invitational leaderboard with a -6 under tournament total;

Windy conditions, hard and fast greens mesmerised everyone, Tyrrell was shocked when a putt actually went in;

“I don’t normally fist pump on a Saturday. I think it was more shock that the ball actually went in the hole, and very relieved.”

“I think even though I tapped that putt it was probably going about eight feet past.”

“It was scary how quick that thing was.”

“With the rough, greens firm, fast, and they’re dry, where there’s not a whole lot of friction, there’s nothing that really holds the ball, so it will expose any little weakness or flaw or mishit.”

Sharing second place, two shots back at -4 under, were World #1 Rory McIlroy, another over par round today, +1 over 73, and Marc Leishman with a respectable even par effort of 70.

Rory thinks if your in the red figures tomorrow, you have a chance of winning;

“Tomorrow it’s all about keeping the big numbers off your card and just trying to play as conservative as possible and pick up some birdies on the par fives if you can.”

“And if you can get it in the red for the day, you’re going to have a good chance.”

Marc was surprised at his overall score;

“I actually added my score up in the scorer’s hut and kind of did a double-take. I added up to 72 and it felt like I shot a 65.”

“It was really tough. Par was a great score. That’s probably as hard as I’ve seen it out here.”

For the record the only player under par today was Max Homa, with -2 under 70, it left him at +1 over for the tournament, T16.

 

 

 

Arnold Palmer Invitational. Two Tied at the Top.

Tyrrell Hatton, England, and Sung Kang of South Korea are tied at the top of the Arnold Palmer Invitational leaderboard after 36 holes at Bay Hill in Florida.

Tyrrell / getty

Tyrrell had an up and down second round of -3 under 69, while Sung carded -4 under 68 to join Tyrrell at the top of the Arnold Palmer Invitational at -7  under par.

Tyrrell admitted that he had not got a clue where his ball was going today;

“I just didn’t have a clue where it was going.”

“Just happy to get in the clubhouse with no damage done, really.”

Danny Lee of New Zealand has third spot at -6 under, he signed for an excellent second round of -5 under 67.

World #1 Rory McIlroy went backwards today +1 over par 73, he is sharing fourth place with last weeks winner Sungjai Im, -3 under 69 today, and Harris English who had a second round -2 under 70, all are at -5 under for the tournament.

Rory said it was a big grind today, but he is still there in the tournament;

“It was a grind. I think I made it more of a grind than I needed to.”

“Conditions were tricky, greens are getting firm, wind was out of a different direction today, so that made things a little interesting, too.”

“I’m still right there in the golf tournament.”

Yesterdays leader Matt Every fell from grace, following his -7 under 65 first round by signing for a +11 over 83, and missed the cut.

 

 

Arnold Palmer Invitational. Matt Every Leads.

Matt Every Leads the Arnold Palmer Invitational after the first round at Bay Hill in Florida Matt / getty

Matt carded a bogey free -7 under par 65 to lead the Arnold Palmer Invitational by one shot on day 1;

“I just didn’t want to shoot myself out of the tournament with the way the weather was.”

“The putter was a little shaky. It’s always a little shaky. It was a good day for me.”

World #1  Rory McIlroy is in second place, one shot back at -6 under following his opening effort of 66, recovering from a trip to the water on #11, where he carded a bogey five;

“To hole that putt for bogey, making 5 instead of 6 there is a big deal.”

“One over through 2 instead of 2 over is sort of a different feeling. And to turn that nine around and turn in under, I felt pretty good about myself going to the front nine.”

Sharing third spot at -5 under are Talor Gooch, and Scottie Scheffler, bot with rounds of 67.