The Star: January 03, 2019

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Thursday January 3 2019 21
local sport
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year in review
Watch the video
at www.star.kiwi
The women’s hockey team
beat Carlton Redcliffs by the
same score line.
In terms of cricket, for me the
story of 2018 has to be the rise
of Gary Stead into the Black
Caps coaching role. When Mike
Hesson announced his shock
resignation in June, Stead was
the option that made the most
sense to fill the void.
Things couldn’t have got
off to a better start than with
the recent rare test series win
against Pakistan in the United
Arab Emirates. With the likes
of Latham and Nicholls looking
like our key contributors with
the bat, outside of Williamson
and Taylor, it’s becoming an
exciting time for Canterbury
cricket fans again.
Also on the rise in 2018
were the Tactix. The last 12
months have given netball fans
hope that gone are the days
of turning up at Horncastle
Arena expecting to see our team
thrashed by 20 points.
Marianne Delaney-Hoshek’s
girls showed fight, winning
their last two regular season
games to sneak into the final
play-off position. They may
have been defeated 49-53 in the
elimination final by eventual
winners the Southern Steel, but
the game had a true back and
forth feel akin to the late-1990s
and 2000s rivalries against
the southerners – the last era
Canterbury thrived in the game.
We can stick with the late
1990s and 2000s for the
performance of the year – at
least for the feel-good factor.
Dave Langrell’s triple double
in the Canterbury Basketball
Association final had more
nostalgia than any fan of the
game could handle.
The 42-year-old former
Canterbury Rams captain
recorded 17 points, 20 rebounds
and 13 assists in the final at
Cowles Stadium in September
after receiving a late call-up to
the team. However, it wasn’t
enough to stop Canterbury
University winning their
first title since 2001 with a
97-92 overtime win over the
Wharenui Gators.
DOMINANT: Lincoln University won their fourth straight metro rugby title in 2018.
(Below) – Linwood Keas vice-captain Alex Todd scored the match-winning try and
secured the Mel Cooke Memorial Trophy as man of the match for the second year in a
row after their 20-16 grand-final win over Hornby in August.
• By Gordon Findlater
HE MAY be ranked well outside
the world’s top 1000, but that’s
not deterring Christchurch pro
golfer Shaun Jones from chasing
his dream of playing on the
European Tour.
Jones didn’t start playing golf
until he was 14 after growing up
playing representative football.
However, things got serious
quickly, and five years ago he
made the bold decision to turn
pro and is encouraging young
golfers with dreams of playing at
the elite level to follow.
“Go for it, chase it. Like my
dad’s always told me, if you don’t
try you’ll never know. Go all in,”
said Jones.
The 33-year-old is currently
visiting friends and family in
Christchurch after moving to
Switzerland with his wife Anita
two years ago.
Jones has spent the last two
years playing on the Alps Tour.
He will begin his third year at
the end of the month. He hopes
to gain a top five finish on the
order of merit. It would grant
him a card onto the European
Challenge Tour, which feeds the
European Tour.
“I took the opportunity of my
wife being Swiss . . . I went to
qualifying school in Spain and
got my full card there, which I’ve
kept for the last two years,” said
Jones.
“The Alps Tour isn’t the place
to try and break even. It’s more
the place to be to get up into the
next level . . . I think if you’re
good enough to win on the Alps
Tour you’re good enough to win
anywhere.”
There are other perks that
come with playing on the tour.
Playing in Egypt, Italy, Spain
and France, Jones admits there
have been some surreal moments
competing on some of the world’s
HOME: Shaun
Jones has
returned
home from
Switzerland
where he is
chasing his
dream of
playing on the
European Tour. ​
Jones chases his
dream of playing
on European Tour
most beautiful courses.
There has also been a couple of
occasions in which the Alps Tour
has lived up to its name.
“We had a tournament in
Rome this year. We arrived the
night before and went out for a
putting session, it was freezing.
We woke up the next day and
there was three feet (92cm)
of snow so they had to cancel
the tournament . . . at another
tournament it was 25 deg C on
day one and on day three it was
snowing.”
Essentially the third tier of
golf in Europe, the Alps Tour
has proven to be a pathway for
others. Jones hopes to follow in
the footsteps of English golfer
Matt Wallace, who spent time on
the tour before breaking into the
top 50 in the world.
“He’s now a four-time
European Tour winner. He spent
four years on the Alps Tour.”
Jones thanks his family and
his wife, who works full-time,
for allowing him to concentrate
purely on his golfing career.
However, he has put a timeline
on his progression. If he fails to
gain a card for the Challenge
Tour at the end of the year, he
will re-address the situation.
“I’m not thinking about that
right now; I’m all about golf. I’m
just trying to find that extra one
per cent to get to the next level.
I think if you start to focus on
something else, then you may as
well not be in it to be honest.”
Before heading back to Europe,
Jones will play a number of New
Zealand PGA events in the North
Island.
Jones hopes to make enough
prize money to cover his flight
home to Switzerland, which is
around $3000. He will have a
good chance of doing so if he can
win a third straight title at the
Napier Pro-am later this month.