Most casual club golfers dream of shooting a round in the 70s. It is a goal many never reach but it is nothing out of the ordinary for a 13-year-old from Te Puke Intermediate.
Harry Hillier has only been playing golf for three years but has already caught the eye of the higher golfing fraternity with his excellent technique and a rare ability to focus for hours on end under pressure.
At this week's AIMS Games golf tournament, only one of the 55 entrants had a lower handicap than his 5.8, and he admits winning a silver medal at last year's games was the spur for him to go one better this time. That and some friendly sibling rivalry, as his older brother Charlie won silver and gold at his two appearances at the AIMS Games.
What Harry loves most about golf gives an indication as to what makes him such a tough player mentally.
"The way you have to concentrate so much and try not to lose focus is the key," he said. "It is so easy to let it go on the course. I enjoy keeping focused, but not at school! At golf I try to keep mentally on, right until the 18th hole."
For one so young Harry has already suffered some burnout from training too hard. He gave golf away for a year before he recovered his enthusiasm for the daily practice sessions.
"I got tired of practising so hard. You do get really tired just doing the same thing and sometimes you don't shoot good scores when you are practising hard and it gets frustrating. It is important to vary your training and to keep at it, even if it is not going as well as you want it to."
He has no doubts as to where his future lies.
"I definitely want to be a professional golfer and go right to the top like my heroes Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy. It is also cool what [New Zealand amateur] Lydia Ko has achieved. I am too young to know how to get there yet but it is a goal, for sure."
Harry has some new goals to set for the rest of the year, beginning with continuing to play well as the youngest member of the Bay of Plenty under-16 golf team.