The Star: February 22, 2018

The Star Latest Christchurch news at www.star.kiwi
Thursday February 22 2018 47
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CANTERBURY SPORTS AWARDS 2018
Garvey to tee off with Faldo
• By Gordon Findlater
LIFE JUST keeps getting better
for Canterbury’s top female
junior golfer Amelia Garvey.
Next month Garvey will mix
and mingle with the biggest
names in golf at the inaugural
Major Champions Invitational
at Bella Collina, Florida.
The invitational is a unique
junior golf tournament created
by six-time major champion,
Sir Nick Faldo. Garvey, 18,
has been selected by Faldo to
compete in his team of four
against a host of other teams
which will be selected and
mentored by famous names
including Jordan Spieth, Dustin
Johnson, Rory McIlroy, Adam
Scott, Jack Nicklaus, Tom
Watson and John Daly.
“I’m super excited and
honoured to be picked to play
on Nick Faldo’s team and to
play under his name. It’ll be
cool to see him again and learn
as much as I can from his
experiences,” said Garvey.
The tournament offers world
amateur ranking points and
will be viewed by a television
audience in the United States.
“This event will allow major
champions to give something
• By Gordon Findlater
CHARGES HAVE been laid
against the Robert Dunn
Racing Stable following an
investigation by the Racing
Integrity Unit.
The charges relate to the
return of positive swabs from
the Nelson Winter Cup twoday
meeting in June.
The Judicial Control
Authority For Racing received
the integrity unit’s decision on
Tuesday after its investigation.
The JCA has laid charges
against the Dunn stable for
presenting horses with a
BIG STAGE: Amelia Garvey will meet the world’s top
former and current golf pros when she competes at the
Major Champions Invitational in Florida.
back to the game that has given
them so much and, hopefully
in time, it will become one
of the most elite junior golf
banned substance.
A hearing date
is yet to be set, in
which Robert Dunn
will make a plea.
The charge of
presenting a horse
with a banned
substance is less
serious than
administering a
banned substance
as it can be caused
by a number of
factors such as
contamination.
Previous cases of presenting a
horse with a banned substance
Robert Dunn
events in the world,” said Sir
Nick. Garvey was named on
his team as a result of two
winning performances at the
have resulted in a fine.
The Dunn Stable
returned four positive
swabs for caffeine at the
Nelson meeting which
took place from June
9-11.
Three of the horse
which tested positive
were directly from the
Dunn stable, while the
fourth was from Craig
and Aimee Edmonds’
stable. However, that
horse was under the
care of the Dunn stable, which
took it to Nelson.
Dunn did not return calls to
Faldo Series Asia New Zealand
Championships in 2016 and
2017 at Clearwater, and her
second place at the Faldo Series
Asia finals in March last year.
The opportunity will give
Garvey another chance to
impress on the big stage.
In September, the former
Burnside High School student
showed she can mix it with the
world’s best when she made
the cut in the LPGA Tour New
Zealand Open.
The invitational juniors will
representing their respective
major champions over 72 holes.
The best three individual scores
will form the team score at the
end of each day. After 72 holes,
prizes will be awarded to the
individual male and female
winners, as well as the overall
winning team.
Garvey is currently in
Singapore at the amateur Asia-
Pacific championship along
with fellow Canterbury junior
Juliana Hung.
Following the invitational,
Garvey will head back to
Los Angeles where she is
attending the University of
Southern California on a golf
scholarship.
Charges laid against Dunn stable
The Star yesterday.
Dunn has previously
claimed the horses were
nobbled – where the caffeine
is administered by an outside
party.
His claim caused rifts
within the Canterbury harness
racing community. He also
enlisted the help of a private
investigator to undertake his
own investigation.
The Dunn stable currently
leads the harness racing
trainer’s premiership with
52 wins – five more than
Mark Purdon and Natalie
Rasmussen.
Dragons within
striking range
of top of table
• By Gordon Findlater
CANTERBURY United Dragons
can move within two points of the
top of the ISPS Handa premiership
table with a win over Hawke’s Bay
United on Saturday.
The Dragons have been on a hot
run of form over the past month.
They haven’t lost since a 0-2 defeat
to league leader
Auckland City at
English Park on
January 20. Since
then they have
enjoyed four consecutive
victories,
and if they can
finish the regular
season in similar
fashion, they will
Willy Gerdsen
secure a home semi-final.
With a semi-final berth already
assured, coach Willy Gerdsen believes
his team can seize the initiative
by playing with the freedom of
already having accomplished their
pre-season goals.
“This team has dedication and
commitment. We don’t have some
of the best individuals in the league
but we have resilience,” said Gerdsen.
The league was expected to be
contested between defending champion
Team Wellington along with
Eastern Suburbs and Auckland City.
However, the Dragons have put
themselves in a position to prove the
big boys can be toppled.
“Semi-finals are a one off. We’ve
never had a home semi-final in my
time, but whatever happens, we
won’t be afraid and will look to play
attractive football,” said Gerdsen.
The fourth-placed Dragons are
away to eighth-placed Hawke’s Bay
on Sunday. If they come away from
the game with three points, they
will move to 32pts – two behind
Auckland City and one behind
Team Wellington.
The Dragons finish the regular
season with two matches against
top four opposition. They host
Team Wellington on March 11 and
have a trip to Eastern Suburbs on
March 18.
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