Australia has beaten New Zealand in the inaugural Trans-Tasman Long Drive Golf Challenge held at Stonecutters Ridge Golf Club in Sydney’s west over the weekend.
The Australian ‘Long Ballers’ beat the New Zealand ‘Long Blacks’ by 10 ½ points to 8 ½ points in a closely fought encounter.
In the pairs, the Kiwis scored three wins and one drawn contest, plus an extra half point for the longest drive by Chase McKeown, from Akarana Club in Auckland, who hit 369m.
Australia managed two wins and two half points for its total of three after the pairs.
In the 12 singles matches, the home side claimed seven victories plus an extra half point as a result of Daniel Lee from Albury who smashed a drive 381 metres, which was the longest drive overall for the day. For New Zealand, McKeown produced a longest drive of 378m in humid conditions.
The closest competition in singles was between Gareth Campbell (Takapuna Golf Course in Auckland) and Karl Peters. The Australian won by the narrowest of margins – 347.8m versus 347.2m.
The competition is scheduled to continue between the two nations with venues changing country every year.