Alanna Campbell spends time with Lydia Ko

HAPPY DAYS: Christina Kim, Alanna Campbell, Momoka Kobori and Lydia Ko before a round of golf in Florida. Photo/Supplied

The golfing education of Omanu's Alanna Campbell hit Master's level this month.

Campbell, 18, is back home after spending three days with world No 1 Lydia Ko at her base in Orlando, Florida.

"Being in her presence was simply amazing and at one stage I just watched her practice for about four hours, which was pretty cool to be honest," Campbell said.

"I learned so much during the week from her amazing work ethic, the precision she has with every aspect of her game and how much of a nice person she is.

"She didn't exactly practice the way I thought she would. She is always laughing and having fun and she could stand there all day and just hit balls."

Campbell and Momoka Kobori from Canterbury went to Florida thanks to the 2017 Lydia Ko Scholarship organised through New Zealand Golf.

The two New Zealand Academy players learnt first-hand from the world's best women's golfer.

The three-day camp involved training, preparing and playing like a pro to build on their success at the amateur level which includes both national and international victories.

Campbell learned several pointers from Ko she will use in her own practice sessions.

"She does a lot of wedging up to about 100 metres. She said it is a very important part of her game because she hits it in the trees a lot and needs to recover and make par.

"She also mentioned that she believes what makes her ability to be able to go so low sometimes is the way she putts. Holing putts is really important also."

In July, Campbell begins a four-year scholarship at Iowa State University in the States.

The whole experience meeting Ko and then playing in Buenos Aires at the South American Amateur made a huge impact on her.

"I played a tournament over there before seeing Lydia and I played one after her in Argentina," Campbell said.

"Just seeing the way people over there play their game compared to here. Just your ball striking and there are so many at exactly the same level and better.

"You sort of know here you are a big fish in a small pond and then you go over there and realise you are a very small fish in a very large sea."

Ko would love more young New Zealand women to join her on the LPGA Tour and wants to assist as much as possible in helping this happen.

"Once again it was great to be able to work with New Zealand Golf and support in helping more young female golfers. My goal is to try have more Kiwis joining me on the LPGA Tour and after such a fun week with Alanna and Momoka and I am excited to watch their progress," Ko told New Zealand Golf.

New Zealand Golf high-performance manager Gregg Thorpe continues to be impressed by what Ko is giving back to the game.

"Partnering with Lydia to bring this scholarship to life has been superb and to see these players working with the world number one in her own surroundings will hopefully inspire them to believe they can also make it to the top," Thorpe said.