The 2016 RICOH Waikato Winter Stroke Play was held at the Lochiel Golf Course on 22nd to 24th July attracting a high quality field of 100 men and for the first time 6 lady competitors . The men's field included 8 of the top 20 order of merit players in the country .
After Friday's near perfect weather , the conditions changed on Saturday to showers off and on all day and Sunday the wind arrived along with the rain to test the players ability . At the completion of play on Friday 13 players were under par , but the weather played it's part over the weekend with only 7 payers under par after the completion of play on Sunday .
Saturday's cut was made at 157 with 57 players making up the field on Sunday including Olivia Choo the only lady to make the cut .
Nick Coxon (Riverside) and Jonathan Cane (Royal Wellington) led the field into Sunday's play on 6 under par .
As happens so often the tournament doesn't start until the last nine holes on Sunday . Nick Coxon held a 4 shot lead on 9 under par going into the final 9 holes on Sunday with Luke Brown on 5 under par and Sam Vincent on 4 under par . Coxon doubled the 11th hole which slightly opened the door for Vincent and Brown , but bogeys at 15 & 17 for Brown made it a two horse race . Vincent completed his tournament on 6 under par allowing Coxon the advantage of playing the final hole with a 1 shot lead over last years champion . Coxon made hard work of the last hole needing a 4 foot putt on the last to win . The putt slipped in the left side of the hole securing a 1 shot win for the 2016 tournament ..
Great result to get Riverside members winning two years in a row and also to have Riverside members filling three of the top 6 places in the tournament with Nick Coxon 1st on 281 , Sam Vincent 2nd on 282 and Luke Toomey 6th on 286