A frustrating 12-year wait has ended with Mount Maunganui capturing the premier Bay of Plenty Championship Pennants title at the Lake View golf club near Rotorua.

The Mount side, sponsored by Double Voltage Electrical, was dominant in the final last Sunday, beating Rotorua five matches to one after heading off Lake View 4.5 to 1.5 in the semi-final.

It was also a hat-trick for the Mount Senior team after beating Omanu 4.5 to 1.5 in their final. The Mount headed for the challenge of three titles in a row when they overcame Ohope in a tight semi-final 3.5 to 2.5 - one match was tied.

The Mount Championship team is an eclectic group of older and younger golfing stars.

Their 40-year-old No 1 player Brad Iles, who was unbeaten in the match-play pennants series and never went past the 16th hole, was a touring professional for seven years and competed on the USPGA second-tier tour.

Playing No 6 was 15-year-old Mount College student Tyler Ashton who is on a plus handicap and recently won the Kaimai Junior Classic.

They were joined by Northland senior representative Sheldon Kearns, New Zealand representative Brad Kendall, former Australia PGA professional Dale Clarke, and Matt Blackbourn who had a successful junior career. Matt and Brad are business partners selling golf simulators.

Managing the team was Owen Kendall who was a member of the winning side 12 years ago, along with his son Brad. They hold a unique record of winning and being runner-up in two New Zealand Amateur championships.

Adding support and guidance was caddy Terry Cochrane, another national amateur champion and New Zealand Eisenhower Trophy representative.

“It’s been a long wait,” says Owen.

“The matches in the final were all pretty close halfway through. It’s a bit stressful for the manager standing and watching and you can’t do anything.

“But the guys knuckled down and got going over the back nine holes – and the Mount finally got over the line."

Owen has been the manager for the last three years, deciding to do that rather than playing.

The winning Mount Senior team is Rebo Harris, Matt Wooten, Kelvin McLeod, Matt Champness (captain), Chad van Breda and Nick Kirsopp.

"Interestingly, the Senior team once again missed out on promotion because of the rule that a club can’t have two teams in the Championship division," says Owen.

The Mount Junior team also made the Pennants final but were soundly beaten by Tauranga 6-0.

Graham Skellerna