Four golfers have qualified from the Bay of Plenty District to the national final of the Junior Tiger at the Manawatu Golf Club on April 17.
The four golfers to progress from the categories of 11 and under (girls and boys) and 12-14 (girls and boys) are Jake Broadmore (MountMaunganui), Tia Park (Omanu), Harry Hillier (Te Puke) and Madison Gartner (Tauranga).
The total number of junior golfers involved in the day was 102 and they were well supported by about 150 parents as they tried to win their district event, or gave golf a go for the first time. The day was a fun day out for all the family with MoreFM providing local entertainment.
New Zealand Golf began its hunt for the 2013 Junior Tiger this weekend at clubs all around New Zealand. The young golfers are playing for the chance to represent their district at the national final and potentially travel to the United States to represent NZ in the World Junior Golf Championship.
Junior Tiger is a NZ Golf initiative designed to promote the game to young people as an affordable and accessible sport. Since the series was introduced in 2009 it has proven to be a very popular initiative.
The Junior Tiger series is as much about taking part as it is winning. Golfers of all abilities are encouraged to give golf a go.
"It is great to see that many players starting out playing golf who played the first Junior Tiger event are back again playing Junior Tiger this year as regular golfers vying for a spot to the national finals and hoping to win their way to Disneyland and the Junior World Championships," said NZ Golf High Performance coordinator Liz McKinnon.
McKinnon said there are a number of players who have gone on from Junior Tiger to achieve great things in golf. "Lydia Ko is a great example who was a national winner in 2009 and is now the World No1 Women's Amateur."
