24-26 January 1999
    20 February 1999

Venues
    Round 1: Horizons Resort Course, NSW
    Round 2: Camden Lakeside, NSW
    Round 3: Castle Hill. NSW
    Round 4: Kingston Links, Vic

Players
    Michael Hauser
    Steve Da Costa

Tour Guests
    Rohan Tudor
    Eileen Tudor
    Andrew Millar
 

 Round 1: Horizons Resort Course
 

Date	24th January 1999
Par	72 (36,36)
Length	5920 metres
Weather	Fine and warm
Fairways	Excellent
Greens	Fast and firm

The King Challenge State of Origin 1999 teed off at the Horizons Resort Course, North of Sydney.  Horizons is a well laid out course offering tough bunkering and rough, quick greens and numerous water hazards.  The course has been rated in the top 5 resort courses in Australia.
Steve set the pace early with a stunning birdie on the 360m par 4 second hole, giving him a 3 shot lead.  His lead extended to 4 after a par on the 4th but Mike struck back on the toughest hole on the course parring the 5th.  In a roller coaster struggle Steve parred the 6th but found trouble on 7 and 8.  Mike parred the 8th and 9th holes to grab back the lead going into the turn.
  Again Steve seized the initiative on the back nine with a birdie on 12, but some average golf was played by both players over the closing holes to leave them tied after the first round
  SCORES LEVEL
 

	Out	In	Total	Putts Out	Putts In	Putts Total	G.I.R.	Birdies	Pars	Bogeys	Dbl Bogeys	Other
Steve	49	48	97	18	16	34	4	2	1	8	4	3
Mike	50	47	97	18	18	36	4	-	5	5	4	4
Par	36	36	72

Round 2: Camden Lakeside
 

Date	25th January 1999
Par	72 (36,36)
Length	6288 metres
Weather	Fine
Fairways	Excellent
Greens	Fast

The Thomson designed Camden Lakeside hosted the second round of the King Challenge State of Origin.  Camden is a links inspired layout with many rolling fairways, pot bunkers and water.  As Thomson states "The real challenge at Camden Lakeside is getting to the green".  In King tour golf, thats always the challenge!!
Rohan Tudor joined Steve and Mike to sample a taste of King tour golf at its finest.   Steve jumped on the par train on the 2nd and 3rd and was 2 shots up going into the 5th hole.  Disaster struck on the par 5 5th hole with the driver failing Steve off the tee, Mike also struggled.  Steve took an 11, Mike a 9!!!  Steve fought back with pars on 7 and 8, Mike parred the 9th.  At the turn, Steve held a 4 stroke lead.  Rohan was shooting the lights out carding 39.
  The golf hotted up on the back nine with Mike parring the 10th, then playing 12th through to 16th in level par.  This was enough to pull three shots back on Steve.  Steve was clubhouse leader after 36 holes by one stroke.
  STEVE LEADER BY 1

For more information on Camden Lakeside - CLICK HERE
 

	Out	In	Total	Putts Out	Putts In	Putts Total	G.I.R.	Birdies	Pars	Bogeys	Dbl Bogeys	Other
Rohan	39	42	81	17	16	33	9	1	7	10	-	-
Steve	47	43	90	17	18	35	7	-	7	6	4	1
Mike	51	40	91	18	18	36	7	1	6	6	3	2
Par	35	35	70

Round 3: Castle Hill
 

Date	26th January 1999
Par	68 (36,32)
Length	5150 metres
Weather	Fine
Fairways	Good
Greens	Good

The King Challenge moved to Castle Hill in Sydney for the all important third round as guests of Rohan and Eileen.  Castle Hill wasnt at its best because of some major course work but it was still going to be a tough test for the challenge.
It was Steve again who stole the early break building on his one shot lead.  A par on the 2nd, then 4th, 7th and 9th set up a 6 shot lead after 9 holes.  An important par on the 8th saved Mike from losing sight of the leader.
  Again Mike showed his liking for the back nine, as he carded pars on 10 and 11, pulling back 3 shots in 3 holes.   But disaster on the short 13th saw Mike dump his tee shot and card a woeful 7.  Steve grabbed a par on the 15th but struggled through 16 and 17 allowing Mike to make up some ground on the leader.  Steve finished the day extending his lead to 3 shots.  Now some mental toughness would be required as the final round would be a month away in Melbourne.
Thanks to Rohan and Eileen for hosting the King Challenge at Castle Hill, the tour organisers were most impressed with the hospitality and tournament management.
  STEVE LEADER BY 3
 

	Out	In	Total	Putts Out	Putts In	Putts Total	G.I.R.	Birdies	Pars	Bogeys	Dbl Bogeys	Other
Steve	43	45	88	18	18	36	4	-	6	5	6	1
Mike	48	42	90	18	18	36	6	-	6	6	4	2
Par	36	32	68

Round 4: Kingston Links
 

Date	20th February 1999
Par	72 (36,36)
Length	5582 metres (White)
Weather	Fine
Fairways	Excellent
Greens	Fast, soft

After a month break, the King Challenge final round teed off at Kingston Links, Melbourne.  This was the first time the King Tour had played over this links style layout and the leader Steve was confident of taking the Challenge and defending his title won last year on the Gold Coast.  Tour rookie Andrew Millar also joined the final round.
Drama on the first hole a short Par 5, Mike made a great start carding a birdie, while Steve took a double bogey.  Suddenly the three shot lead was gone and scores were level.  Steve regained composure and pulled back 2 shots over the next 2 holes.  But Mike had other ideas and got on the par train on 6, 7, 8 and 9.  By the turn Mike had grabbed a two shot lead.  Andrew was showing some strong form on the Kingston layout..
  Mike extended the lead to 4 on the 10th, but Steve struck back picking up 3 shots over the next 2 holes.  On the short Par 4 13th, Steve hit a wayward second while Mike nailed an 8 iron right at the pin, a birdie to Mike and a double bogey to Steve put the result almost out of reach.  Mike extended the lead on the next two holes and maintained the 5 shot lead through to the end of the round, taking the King Challenge and the purple jacket.
  MIKE WINNER BY 5
 
 
 

	Out	In	Total	Putts Out	Putts In	Putts Total	G.I.R.	Birdies	Pars	Bogeys	Dbl Bogeys	Other
Steve	47	47	94	18	17	35	-	-	2	11	4	1
Mike	42	44	86	15	17	32	4	2	6	5	4	1
Par	35	35	70

Final Results
 
 

	Round 1	Round 2	Round 3	Round 4	Total	Putts	G.I.R.	Birdies	Pars	Bogeys	Dbl Bogeys	Other
Steve	97	90	88	94	369	140	15	2	16	30	18	6
Mike	97	91	90	86	364	140	21	3	23	22	15	9
Par	72	72	68	72	284

Final Placings

1. Mike Hauser
2. Steve Da Costa