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 Newsroom Taranaki Open 2005 North Harbour professional Josh Carmichael fired a seven-under par 65 to lead after the opening round of the Olex Taranaki Open in New Plymouth today. Carmichael made six birdies and an eagle in a superb round, taking full advantage of ideal conditions at the Ngamotu Links course. The $40,000 tournament is part of Golf Tour New Zealand, an initiative by former professional Greg Turner which brings together the leading amateurs, male and female, along with young and club professionals. Carmichael has a two shot advantage over local professional Grant Moorhead with a further shot back to North Harbour professional Steve Gordon and New Zealand amateur representative Josh Geary. There’s a further one shot back to a trio on three-under 69 including New Zealand representative Doug Holloway and professionals Guy Penrose and Scott Pickett. It was a strong performance from Carmichael, who said the GTNZ concept fits the bill ideally for his situation. The young Pupuke golfer missed his full tour cars for the Australasian Tour last year but gained a partial accreditation, playing recently in Fiji and the Troppo Tour on the Sunshine Coast. "It’s hard to get places to play so if this can grow, then it’s ideal for me," said Carmichael who was delighted with his first round performance. "I hit the ball well today but really putted well. I made some good putts – this course was set up superbly and I guess we got the best of the conditions in the morning." His 65 was only one shot off the course record held by Moorhead, who was well pleased with his first round effort late in the day. "It was tremendous conditions out there today and I was quite pleased. I putted well but didn’t make anything on the first nine and then made a few that dropped in from the side on the way home. "I hit some good shots and hit a few that were not that great but overall it was a good start." Moorhead, a member of the 1992 winning Eisenhower Trophy team, is finally trying his chances to make the US PGA Tour at the qualifying school first stage in three weeks. The Taranaki professional nearly died from meningitis 10 years ago after playing in Fiji and took five years to regain full health. This year he has won several pro-ams and recently took out the Fiji PGA title. Geary was the best of the amateurs, firing seven birdies in his four-under 68. "It felt good today but I still made quite a few mistakes with three bogies. I putted really well but nothing really dropped, so I could have shot low today. "It’s a good start though and I’m happy with the way I am hitting the ball." Gordon fired five birdies with one dropped shot for his 68 in a very solid effort, while Penrose was a mixture of hot and cold. He was one-over par after 12 holes before he rattled home five birdies in the last six holes for a three-under 69. Defending champion Ryan Haywood, who has been working fulltime running a Christchurch hotel, shot a three-over 75 while last year’s runner-up, Wellington professional Mark Brown had five birdies spoiled by two double bogies in his 71. Mt Maunganui amateur Brad Iles was impressive moving to five-under midway through his round but had to settle for a one-under 71 after two double bogeys. The leading female is 17-year-old New Zealand representative Natasha Krishna (Auckland) who eagled the par-5 18th hole for an even-par 72. There is a cut to the top 60 players plus eight females after tomorrow second round for the final two rounds on Saturday and Sunday. For further information contact: |
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