Another win for rising star | Manawatu-Wanganui Sport | Surfing, Rugby, Soccer, Football, Cricket in Manawatu-Wanganui

"Amber-Rose Thompson-Newth" ... that has to be one of Wanganui golf's bigger engraving jobs, and now it's being squeezed on two trophies.

Sixteen-year-old Thompson-Newth - generally just called Amber - took out the Castlecliff women's title on Sunday to add to the Wanganui club crown she won the week before.

As defending champion she was the favourite, but had to battle the conditions over 36 holes of matchplay - "it was very windy and really difficult" - before beating Jodie Donaldson 7 and 6. Donaldson wasn't disgraced and will benefit from the experience.

Nine days ago the Wanganui High School student had a tougher battle at Belmont with her Manawatu Wanganui rep team-mate, the experienced Caroline Scott, 15 times the club champ including a 10-year run from 2001.

"Caroline's really good, so I had to stay pretty cool," said Thompson-Newth who showed her competitive temperament by claiming the title at the second extra hole.

Thompson-Newth, who is coached by Andre White at Palmerston North, reckons she is finding her best form, particularly at the recent rep event at Stratford where Manawatu Wanganui beat Taranaki, Wellington and Hawke's Bay.

She is in rep action again this weekend against Taranaki and will be battling for a spot in the team for the Toro inter-provincial championship at Whakatane in December, while her long-term goal is to make a career in golf.

"Hopefully, I might get the chance of a scholarship to go to school in the United States and eventually I want to try and make it as a professional player."

Manawatu Wanganui spokesman Stephen Wood gives her a shot at realising that challenging ambition. "Potentially, she is one of the best women players to come out of Wanganui in years," he said.

She got the golfing bug as a 13-year-old when she went with younger sister Jade, already a player, to a junior day at Castlecliff. Jade stopped; Amber carried on.

This year she joined Wanganui - "Just for a change, and it's closer to home."

Sunday's men's final at Castlecliff saw Alistair Ross victorious against Harley Pomeroy in an exiting showdown.

The morning round ended up all square but, going through the 29th in the afternoon, Ross was two up. He won the 30th and, at that stage, looked fairly comfortable.

But Pomeroy was not going down without a fight and won the 31st, 32nd, 33rd and 34th holes to go one up. Ross used all his experience to take the 35th and leave the pair all square on the 36th tee.

Into a head wind, Pomeroy missed the green for his second and, just missing a long par putt, gave Ross the straightforward par for the win.

The intermediate men's final between Neil Forlong and Warwick Goile was another nail-biter.

Forlong stood on the 35th tee one up, with both getting good drives away. Forlong's second shot was short - and then the fun started.

His third went out of bounds and he finally made the green in five. Meanwhile, Goile was having trouble of his own in the bunker. However, Goile managed to square it up by winning the 36th before Forlong prevailed on the 37th.

The junior A final was also close, with Ivan Broughton two-up over defending champ Shane Benge at lunchtime. Benge's finals experience kicked in as he won on the second last hole.

In other club finals, John Cosford beat Dave Taylor in the junior B event; Barb Cornor won the bronze 1 title, beating Gillian O'Kane and the bronze 2 final saw Barbara Letica defeat Gaye Maddox.

Wayne Basham and Peter Flynn won the Butler Cup men's pairs competition.

In the NZ Women's Masters tournament, which finished at the Shandon club in Wellington on Sunday, the Manawatu Wanganui team of Caroline Scott (Wanganui), Jenny Ritchie (Marton), Karina MacDonald (Levin) and Karen Manninen (Manawatu) finished eighth. Southland won the title for the third year in a row.