Nightcaps Golf Club Etches Name in Record Books

Nightcaps’ remarkable golf dynasty has entered uncharted territory.

The Nightcaps Golf Club defeated Winton in 2016 to claim the Laing Shield, symbol of Southland’s supremacy for men’s golf.

Six years on and on Saturday, against Queens Park, it defended the shield for the 62nd, setting a record for the prized trophy first contested in 1909.

The Laing Shield is a challenge trophy among men’s teams representing golf clubs across Southland.

READ MORE:
* Possible closure of the sporting dynasty, the remarkable situation of the small golf club
* Winning Laing Shield boosts the mood at Nightcaps Golf Club
* The golf club’s impressive 35 wins in the Laing Shield competition

The challenger and holder each field six amateur men who are full financial members of the respective clubs.

Players on each team meet an opponent in 18-hole match play.

The Dipton Golf Club held the record of 62 defenses from 2005 to 2011.

In July, Nightcaps equaled that 62 defensive mark with a win at Invercargill Golf Club before toppling Queens Park on Saturday, making the small club in western Southland standalone record holders.

They did it in style with a 6-0 win.

The Nightcaps Golf Clubs fairytale story has been a well-documented thing before it won the Laing Shield in 2016, there was talk of closing the club and letting the track land.

It was on the back of declining playing member numbers with only seven at the time.

However, Laing Shield’s win put an end to the lease and over the next six years not only has it etched its name in Southland’s golf history books, but Nightcaps has been able to grow its player count and in turn survive. .

Seventeen players have been used so far during the Nightcaps’ six-year tenure of Laing Shield.

They are Ash Murray, Alan Roberts, Gordy Sharp, James Harding, Murray Proctor, Peter Booth, Jay Pethric, Keith Clark, Chris Sherlock, Kyle Dobbie, Ross Mangels, Stu Dobbie, Brett Dobbie, Keith Harvey, Snow Black, Stan Todd and B.J. Hansen.