Over the first weekend of May 14 champion sides from throughout the country made their way to the beautiful Millbrook Resort in the name of mens health.
After a 6-month Movember Masters Golf Series, reaching from as far north as Waipu Golf Club to as far south as Otago Golf Club, 14 three-person ambrose teams were crowned champions, and with victory came the spoils of an invitation to the Weekend of Champions at Millbrook Resort.
The Weekend of Champions serves as an opportunity to reward those who handled the pressure and got the job done on the course throughout the golf series, and an opportunity to name a national champion, but more importantly its primary purpose is to reward those who qualified with a weekend which stands for everything the Movember Foundation is about, spending time with your mates, a break from the daily stresses, physical activity, and as always, having fun, doing good.
More than anything else the Mo Masters, and its Weekend of Champions prize, is a vehicle through which men are brought together and given an excuse to have some fun with their mates, for their mates, all while raising funds and awareness along the way, helping Movember continue to fund key projects that are having an everlasting impact on the face of mens health.
First thing Saturday morning, the teams were out hitting balls. Preparing their swings, tactics and any last touch ups to fine tune the teams abilities and come into the final round of the Movember Masters red hot.
With a staggered start off the first tee of the Arrow/Coronet course and the VPAR Live Leaderboard in play allowing each team to track the fields scoring throughout the round, the opportunity was ripe for one team to come out early in the round and post a low score, to take the clubhouse lead and mount pressure onto the final groups.
Clearly the early teams saw this opportunity, with multiple going low from the very first hole.
For the first 9, a handful of teams looked to be playing Millbrook Resort, and the NZ Open course, as easily as a pitch and putt. Remuera Champions, Sultans of Swing, found themselves in the lead at -9 under after 9, grouped in tight with only a shot or two separating them from Muriwai Champions Team Clubroom, Otago Champions Birdie Gurus and Feilding Champions Atkins & Associates.
But as all golf fanatics know, championships arent won on the front 9, titles are taken home on the back 9 of the final round. With this pressure came the faulters, teams putters going cold and the leaderboard suddenly slowing down drastically.
The race really came down to three horses, the early leaders Sultans of Swing, and the only two teams in the field who had been to the Weekend of Champions before, New Plymouth Champions No Mo Bros and Waitemata Champions 3 Boys 1 Cup.
Dark horses Sultans of Swing kept defying the odds and scorching the course, finding themselves -11 under after 11 thanks to 9 birdies in a row and an eagle. With an early tee off time, the stage was set for them to squeeze every last drop out of their hot scoring and finish off what had been an unbelievable round to sit pretty with the clubhouse lead. After completing the final stretch and avoiding damage on the dangerous short par 3 18th surrounded by water they posted -16 under par, to hold the clubhouse lead and swamp pressure onto the on-course teams who through the VPAR golf scoring app could see exactly what they were chasing.
No Mo Bros looked to be a chance of stealing the limelight, sitting -11 under after 12 holes. But as with every Mo Masters the question is, can you maintain the scoring as the holes run out and importantly the amount of drives each player has taken begins to impact ball selection. Finding themselves 4 back with 3 to play, No Mo Bros needed something huge, and huge they got. Driving the par 4 313 meter 16th to within 10 feet of the pin, then knocking in the eagle putt to give themselves a chance. Unfortunately it was a bridge to far for the Taranaki faithful, only a par on the 17th par 4 all but ending their run. Another strong showing in the Mo Masters but once again going home empty handed.
So it all came down to the Northland trio of 3 Boys 1 Cup. With 5 to play they sat at -11 under, needing something special to take home the McBeth-Morgan Trophy and call themselves, national champions. Going through the final stretch in which every other team had faulted, 3 Boys 1 Cup showed their Mo Masters experience discipline in their drivers ball selection throughout the round to all sit pretty with 5 or close to it taken, allowing them to play the final stretch freely and chose the best ball each time to take advantage of some short par 4s coming into the clubhouse. 3 Boys 1 cup went -5 over their final 5 holes to take the lead, sitting with a 1 stroke lead on the par 3 18th and managing to barely keep just 1 of their 3 balls out of the water. Crucially the one ball in play was chip able, giving them the chance to chip and putt for the win and beating out Sultans of Swing by 1 stroke.
A big win to a team who have been great supporters of the Movember Masters from the beginning, and thoroughly deserved to call themselves New Zealands best.
The Mo Masters will be back again in 2019, starting in October and running throughout the summer to find our 3rd national champion. To get involved and find out more on NZs favorite golf series just visit www.nz.movember.com/get-involved/mo-masters
Mo Masters- Golf with your mates, for your mates
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