10 Years
of the Queenstown Classic
Friday morning, and Juan Under, the
Mangere Bridge Mexican had offered to drop the Auckland
Freaky Styley crew to the airport .. What a surprise
.. ‘not’ .. to arrive a his place to find
him and Debbie Natural also packed and primed for
the trip to the ‘Classic’ celebration
..
The Mini bus arrived the gear was loaded and Juan,
Deb, Jim, Leigh, Arthur the Dutch international, the
GM and Toby climbed aboard.
Checking in at the airport we ran into Waiheke’s
Brett Hailstone and family heading south for the Queenstown
experience. The flight down was awesome, fine weather
made for great views, with our pilot taking a few
deviations to give us all a good look at notable points
of interest.
The Queenstown weekend started with
the usual dinner at the ‘Lone Star’, where
you order pork and get served a pig. During dinner
a few of the regular faces are seen making the most
of the last chance to carbo-load before the trip up
to Glenorchy, and ‘Paradise’ the next
morning.
The next morning saw us running into
even more regular Queenstown golfers, as we picked
up our morning coffees and some supplies for the day,
at that supurb bakery on Shotover Street.
Wow !! This could be the biggest Paradise event yet.
As we drove that fantastic Glenorchy
road along side Lake Wakatipu, all I could hear was
the Dutch Tourist in the back seat exclaiming “Woooooh,
dis es beeeeeeaaaautiful “
Every now and then we’d stop to stash another
bottle of water for the Beast to drink, on his Rotorua
Marathon training programme 27k run back into town
that evening.
There was also the usual stop at the high vantage
point overlooking the lake and mountains for the annual
photo of the ‘Freaky Styley’ crew on our
way to Paradise.
As we we’re taking our shots the Christchurch
crew of Neil Gardner, Sammy Neilson, Dave Sanders
and company pulled in with cameras blazing as well.
As we pulled into base camp in the
awesome Paradise Valley, once again the beaming face
of James Smithells was there to welcome us all to
what was shaping up to be a record 20 players at ‘the
plate’.
The weather had also come to the party with very little
wind, clear skies and southern sunlight predicted
for the entire weekend, …….. and it stayed
that way!!!!
The morning round of Doubles is always
a social event, and a good way for any body who’s
never played the course to have a good look at the
multitude of places you can loose your discs.
Well done to Simon Feasey and the ‘Mainfreight
sponsored’ Chris Kingsnorth who took out the
doubles for 2005.
For the 12 tour players in the field
of 20, the first singles round at Paradise was where
the weekend started, with everyone keen to head to
the gardens the next day with a slight advantage.
As the sun headed towards the horizon [yes it was
getting late] the cards came in, and American Ken
Jarvis, back in Queenstown for a second year but not
competing on the tour, had a one shot lead over Simon
Feasey with the ‘GM’ just another shot
back [yes .. the GM just one shot short of the ‘Big
Arm Western Springs Kid’.] and Chris Kingsnorth
a further shot behind.
It was tight!
We dropped John ‘the beast’
Helmink off 27k’s out from Queenstown on our
way back into town, and he arrived as the first steaks
we’re coming off the BBQ on the deck out side
the apartment we had rented over looking the town
and lake. It was great to catch up with a few of the
locals and visitors over a run & coke or two that
evening.
Sunday morning .. The day of the ‘ 10th Annual
Helicopter Line Queenstown Classic’.
The Auckland crew arrive in the Gardens just in time
to help with the erection of the tent and to get registrations
underway .. it’s only 10 and the sun is beaming
down on us, and hardly a cloud in the sky.
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Is that someone putting from
the water? Why, it's Brett potting a birdie!
De Dutchie Arthur admires the
snowcapped peaks before thinking about his drive...
A disc-eye'e view of one of
the taped tree target.
Who told Chris he could play
from the roof?!
Cute golfer Deb drives alongside
the great sign at the Gardens...
"Don't brand the kid!"
- Toby 'foots' it with the big boys with the Hacky
Sack...
The man himself, James 'The
Jag' Smithalls and friends enjoy the surreal setting
at Paradise...
Dum-de-doo...as we wait again
for Sam to throw the damn disc!!!
The lads check things out from
within a Paradise shed...
A grin from ear to ear - 2005
Under 10 Champion Toby Gentil with Womens Champ Mum.
High fliers - Simon, Ken and
Toby enjoying their Helicopter Line prize...
A ture champion of New Zealand
disc golf - James Smithalls. Thanks for a great weekend
James!
Mathematician John 'The Beast'
Helmink tries to find an extra bogie on Jim's scorecard.
Global mates - Arthur and Bob
at Paradise...
"10-4 big buddy!"
Toby in charge on the chopper...
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