Big following for little white ball

FUTURE PRO’S: Mangawhai golf academy players tearing up the course at Kerikeri are, from left,  Liam Leslie-Sutton, Billy 

By Rob Pooley

A co-operative arrangement between Mangawhai Beach School, Mangawhai Golf Club, parents and willing helpers has breathed new life into junior golf. 

What began as a Thursday afternoon slog throughout terms one and four has now seen some school kids graduate into polished young golfers, seven of whom have joined the ranks of elite juniors and subsequently the Northland Academy U14 development squad, under the guidance of coach/manager Julian Rous.

This team played their first competition at Kerikeri last weekend as part of the Northland U21 Strokeplay Championships and all performed creditably. 

Three of the team, Liam, Jack and Talon played in the Kiwi Course part of the competition and the remainder played off the full course white tees.

The nett score, strokeplay format was played under the searing Northland sun but Talon Diamond produced the round of the day to win the division. A great effort from him. 

This was part of their year-long junior academy calendar.

From this team also comes the Mangawhai junior pennants teams. 

With the addition of Wellsford member Jamie Thomas – and one other Kiwi Course player still to be announced – they will have their first competition this weekend. This is the first junior pennants team fielded by Mangawhai for some time.

This renewed interest has enabled the reintroduction of the junior programme under the management and tutelage of Shayne Stuart and  Geoff Finlay who have received the appropriate training from the NZ Golf Association. 

Parents are also invited and encouraged to be a part of the growing movement.

A mix of course play, coaching, learning the rules and course etiquette on summer Tuesday evenings is a stepping stone to Kiwi Golf for the youngsters aged from 8 years and over. 

This is simply a shortened version of the game to allow for the younger players’ capabilities but where they can still establish a handicap suited to their ability and which can be carried on to senior ranks.

Recent fine results by young Kiwi players Danny Lee and Lydia Ko has heightened interest within junior ranks and demonstrated that serious players can be well rewarded if they are prepared to put in the effort and they have the support of the whole club behind them.