Local golfers Ange and Brett Curle along with Steve and Sharon Meddings made a huge contribution to the smooth running of the recently held NZ Golf Open on the Millbrook Resort and The Hills in Queenstown – its 102nd year.
This is the biggest event on the New Zealand golfing calendar and a field of 156 professionals and 156 amateurs teed off, playing for a prize purse of $1.65 million dollars. I caught up with Ange and fired a few questions at her.
How did you get involved in the NZ Open Golf Championship?
Sharon Meddings contacted me and asked if we were interested in volunteering at the NZ Open. Anyone can volunteer; of course it helps if you play golf and have a general knowledge of golf etiquette. There’s an application form you fill out online and they email you back with more information.
What was your role and other roles carried out by Raglan Golfers?
Sharon and I were assigned on the 6th hole of the Remarkables course. There are two 18 hole courses at Millbrook, both were used and full the first two days of Pro-Am play. We were given “quiet” signs to hold up, one at the Tee box and one at the green.
Steve Meddings was a walking scorer; his role came with a lot more responsibility and was half the time-commitment each day.
Describe your best moment over the four days.
There were so many incredible experiences like meeting Steve Alker, international world class winning Professional golfer who is from Waikato and wore his Chiefs shirt to the introductory Volunteer meet and greet dinner on the first night. The amateur field was full of celebrities also like Israel Dagg, Hayden Patton, Jeremy Wells to name only a few. Being involved behind the scenes up close and personal with so many, and realising that they all hit some rubbish golf shots too was humbling. Golf is a great game, rewarding but tough.
The actual best moment was watching Brendan Jones play the last 4 holes to win the title at the end of the 4 day gruelling tournament. He had played through the 7th hole where I was holding up my quiet sign and Steve Meddings was ball spotting on the same fairway that day. Brendan had spoken to me before his tee shot, thanked me for my volunteering service. He was polite, humble and sincere. Watching him streak out into the lead several holes after our exchange gave me admiration and respect for the true thoroughbred sportsman that he is. He played the final 4 holes with precision and excellence to win the Championship title.
Why would you recommend that other club golfers volunteer at such a tournament?
I highly recommend this experience to anyone who loves golf and wants to broaden your own understanding of how much organisation is involved in these international events. When you watch any sports on TV you have a deeper understanding of what it’s like physically being there. Many volunteers are needed every year and it feels great to “give back” to a sport that you are passionate about.
Describe the golf course that the Championship was played on.
Millbrook Golf resort is a top quality Championship course, the fairways are immaculately manicured, the greens are true and lightning fast. There are two 18 hole golf courses at Millbrook resort. The courses are easily playable for any level of golfer as long as you play fairly straight of course, ha ha. I have vouchers to use at Millbrook as part of the “thank you “ for volunteering.
Sharon and Steve used their free rounds already the day after the final. I still have mine as I had been invited by another volunteer I met to play at The Hills course on the same day. These top class courses have different level tee boxes and truly are not any harder than our own Raglan course.
What was the spectator support like for this championship?
The spectator sport was incredible. Over two days on my Par 3 hole I watched about 200 players tee off. I was on an elevated tee box so I could look down on one side and see approach shots onto a Par 5 and across on the opposite side all the players trying to “Drive the green “ on a short Par 4, it wasn’t boring.
Who was your favourite competitor and why?
My favourite competitor again would have to be Brendan Jones, with Steve Alker close in 2nd place. They were both so humble, friendly and grounded. Brendan had a following of 10 guys who had arrived at Queenstown airport from home club in Canberra, just in time to arrive at the course and cheer on their mate for his final 6 holes. Quiet signs working overtime for that lot!! It was as if Brendan was given a whole new energy when his mates showed up to encourage his stride to the 18th. The fun and intense atmosphere of the support spurred him on for birdie after birdie. I’ve already registered for next year. I’m curious to see where it will be held!!!
