Crucial to the academy is the return of Hastings PGA professional Brian Doyle at the helm of the "elite" academy of 13 with the remaining in the premier squad.
Says Golf HB academy and boys' junior selector Niki Williams: "It is a bonus to bring in Brian. We're very lucky he's taking over our elite academy squad."
Tuhourangi has a 12 handicap and has chalked up a rash of junior tournaments.
The Karamau Golf Club member jets off to San Diego in July to play four rounds of the IMG Callaway Junior Golf Championship.
"It'll be my biggest tournament," says the youngster who plays off the blue tees in the Bay and drives 170m.
His strength is his chipping and putting. He played in the under-19 category of the New Zealand Maori tournament in Taupo, finishing in the middle of the pack.
He doesn't work up too much sweat playing 72 holes, recently competing in the Maraenui and Waipa Open tourneys.
Explains dad: "He started watching golf on TV with me and from age 4 he was swinging a club."
He has been receiving coaching from professional Andrew McNair at Sharpies Driving Range in Hastings for the past two years.
"Andrew already helps him but having academy members around him is a good experience," says the senior Wilson, noticing a difference in his son's approach to factors such as course management.
The youngster is competing now without the help of a caddie although his father helps him out when he needs it.
Within six months of starting, McNair helped him whittle down his 28 handicap to 18.
Tuhourangi has already beaten his father, on a six handicap, off the stick, carding 76, 76 and 78.
"He's focusing more on golf than school, I must admit," says Wilson of a boy who plays 18 holes every day after school, including weekends in summer but cuts it down to nine holes in winter.
His mother, Haeata Graham, keeps a tab on his academic pursuits to ensure he doesn't lose touch with it.
Tuhourangi, who is physically "quite big for his age", was third in the NZ Junior Tiger tourney at the Manawatu Golf Club on April 13.
He carded two-over par 38 in nine holes in third place, behind the winner who scored 1-under 35 and the runner-up who was on a par.
Giddy isn't competing at the Wairarapa Open this weekend because she has reinjured her collarbone.
The Karamu High School year 11 pupil is a left-hander on a 10.9 index and is the daughter of private tennis coach Craig Giddy.
The South African-born teenager got into golf because her dad used to play the game when he was at the family farm in George, Southern Cape.
"I remember hitting acorns with a putter at the farm as a 4-year-old," she recalls, adding it helped that there was a golf course nearby.
In 2012 the family migrated to the Bay when Craig was offered a coaching job.
A 35 handicapper at 6, she got serious about golf two years ago as she set incremental goals, achieved one and moved to the next.
Doyle has been coaching her for three years.
"It's really good to have a coach as a mentor at the academy as well."
Giddy says playing and learning alongside talented males also boosts her confidence and taught her how to approach the game more aggressively.
As a leftie, she sees "a completely different world".
She wants to become a professional someday but should that not eventuate, Giddy has a fall-back plan to become a forensic scientist.
