World School Golf Championships 

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The Senior A golf team travelled to Christchurch to compete in the World Schools Golf Challenge during the recent April holidays. The team consisted of Kyle Clark (captain), Callum White, Robbie Perry and Hamish Brown.

The opening ceremony was held at St Andrews College, where were able to meet the other teams, some of whom had travelled from Australia and Auckland. We were also welcomed by the tournament officials and organisers as they outlined the rules and the format for the tournament.

Callum White (Year9) played his best round of the tournament in the first round of the tournament which was held at the Harewood golf course. He scored three under his handicap of seven and this certainly contributed the team, who by their own admissions had solid but not spectacular rounds. A commendable 3rd position over night meant that confidence was buoyant going into day two.

The second round at Harewood would prove to be a much greater challenge, as unfortunately the wind picked up and made shot making very difficult. The sun still shone and it was Robbie Perry who shed rays of light over the leaderboard with his best round of the tournament. He scored an awesome six under his handicap of 16. This meant that John McGlashan College started to cement its podium position on the leaderboard.

During the rest day some of the boys to travel up to Hanmer Springs, while others played a practice round at the Clearwater championship course, where the next two days of the tournament were to be held.

The team had an early start time which meant the fairways were dewy with a slight chill in the air. It was Kyle Clark turn to produce a quality round and he had his best round, scoring three under his handicap of six on this day. The team backed this outstanding round with again solid rounds and the team moving into the final day had a share of third position.

The team were nervous and excited going into the final day, and an absolutely stunning day for golf followed.

The beautiful members lounge overlooking the 18th green was packed with parents and supporters as Hamish Brown turned it on to score a great round of two under his handicap. The rest of the team, however, struggled some what on the difficult closing holes at Clearwater, and it was a nervous wait to see if the team had managed to maintain their third position on the table.

The prize giving ceremony was held back at St Andrews college in the boarders dining room. The team and supporters enjoyed a lovely meal and celebrations with the other competing national and international schools.

It was then announced that the McGlashan’s combined scores gave them a well deserved third place in the Nett competition, a trophy for the John McGlashan College cabinet.

Callum White finished 2nd in the division 2 gross competition picking up a medal and Robbie Perry also finished 2nd place in the Gross and Nett competitions in the 3rd division. Hamish Brown finished just a couple of shots off a medal in Division 3 as he finished in 5th place. Kyle Clark finished in 10th spot in a tightly contested top division.

The team really enjoyed meeting and playing golf against teams from all over the country and overseas, and especially enjoyed catching up with the boys from the interschool St Andrews team.

The team played really well throughout the tournament and were well deserving of the third place finish. The boys are now looking forward to improving their place in the next tournament which is likely to be in Perth in 2017.

Special thanks to Helen White who was the manager of the team; we are grateful to you for your support and assistance during the tournament.

By Kyle and Callum, on behalf of the team.