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NEW ZEALAND PRIME MINISTER TAKES ON HOLLYWOOD IN QUEENSTOWN GOLF

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March, 2012

Prime Minister John Key appeared happy to let Hollywood star Don Cheadle take the lead at the opening of the NZ PGA Pro-Am celebrity tournament late this month.
Proceedings for the non-competition seeding tournament was played away from the main action at Sir Michael Hill's Arrowtown course The Hills, and was instead played at the Jacks Point course, just south of Queenstown.
Mr Key stood back during the powhiri, letting veteran actor Cheadle answer the challenge of the traditional Maori welcome and take the lead in giving hongi's once the challenge was accepted.
Cheadle, a self-professed 'golf nut,' has had a critically acclaimed career that has spanned standout appearances in Boogie Nights to starring roles in the Ocean's Eleven franchise and Hotel Rwanda.
The celebrity line-up was dotted with former All Blacks including Justin Marshall and Jeff Wilson, ex-Wallabies legend Nick Farr-Jones, and golfing ace Lydia Ko.
Although Mr Key was in top level security talks in Korea during the front-end of the week, he reportedly took a few minutes to outline his game-plan.
'Unfortunately being Prime Minister means I cant spend nearly as much time as I would like on the golf course and my game is not perfect,' he said.
'So while I do not want to raise expectations I will play a blinder, I am quite competitive, and sometimes attitude can out-manoeuvre aptitude.'
Meanwhile, Cheadle would have happily traded his first hole-in-one to help out eventual winner Michael Hendry during a dramatic 16th hole at the Pro-Am championship.
Cheadle, a 10 handicapper, scored the first ace of his career in front of a gallery of several hundred, including his wife and children, but professional Hendry was in the process of seeing a three-shot lead evaporate into a one-shot deficit as he carded a quadruple bogey.
To have the tournament's most famous player score a hole-in-one could not have been scripted better for the organisers of the inaugural event who were hoping it was the shot heard around the world.
Cheadle said he and his family had enjoyed their Queenstown experience. "We are definitely going to come back. I hope I can make it back for next year's tournament," he said.
"I've been tweeting pretty heavily and texting people, telling people they should come down and check it out so hopefully we can build this thing up and get it to the level of some of the tournaments we play over there like the AT&T and the Dunhill."

Source: The Southland Times