Golf NT Country Championships.
Local favourites Katelyn Rika and Wayne Jago have taken out the NT Country Championships.
Rika and Jago took out the Women’s and Men’s titles, making it a clean sweep for host club Gove Country Golf Club. It has been over 10 years since Gove hosted the NT Country Championships and the club was thrilled to have dual winners on home soil.
Following a one shot victory on Friday in the NT Mixed Foursomes with Darwin’s Samuel Wright, Rika dominated the next three days to run away with the Women’s title by the same number of strokes as her age. The 19-year old finished with solid final round of one over par 73, holing out with a 46m chip-in for an eagle on the Par 5 18th hole. Runner-up was Kate Buckland from Alice Springs.
In the Men’s Championship it was battle to the finish line between local Wayne Jago and Peter Hargreaves from Darwin. The pair were tied after two rounds and teeing it up in the final grouping for round three. Jago came hot out of the blocks with a birdie on the first, followed up with a long birdie putt on the final hole to seal the deal and take a three shot win.
It was an extra sweet win for Samuel Wright in the Mixed Foursomes as both his parents won the event back in 2008. Wright has etched his name next to theirs now and he and Rika edged out Kate Buckland and Peter Hargreaves by a single shot.
Hargreaves and Trudy Robertson from Alice Springs were the NT Senior Country Champions, with Palmerston’s Jacob Rawlings crowned the NT Junior Country Champion. The best overall net performances went to Luke Silvester of Gove for the men, winning on a count-back from fellow member Jonetani Rika, and Rose Aldridge of Darwin for the women.
Located in Nhulunbuy, Gove Country Golf Club is a picturesque, volunteer-run course on the coast of Northeast Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory. It is a 9 hole all grass course, with alternate tee positions making up the front and back nine. Gove’s two-storey clubhouse is the perfect place to kick back and relax before or after your round, with views of the course and ocean.