The Fiji Times on Saturday, August 4, 1973, featured an amusing story about a caddy named Josua Baleiwai. He was pictured atop a 20-foot coconut tree at the Fiji Golf Club’s Vatuwaqa course. Baleiwai climbed the tree to retrieve a golf ball hit there by New Zealand amateur golfer Bill Page.
Although Page didn’t have the best score in the first round of the Air New Zealand Fiji Open golf championship in Suva, his game was certainly the most eventful. The 47-year-old semi-retired farmer from Taupo in New Zealand’s North Island caused the day’s biggest sensation by hitting a ball into the top of a coconut tree alongside the third fairway.
After an unsuccessful search in a nearby drain by Page and fellow players Len Thomas from Australia and Titus Deoki from Suva, Baleiwai, a 27-year-old caddy from Raiwasa, climbed the tree and retrieved the ball.
Page had to take a one-stroke penalty for an unplayable lie. He and many others struggled on the tricky greens, finishing with a score of 82, which is 10 over par. New Zealand professional Dennis Clark led the field with a score of 70.