Taradale High School New Zealand secondary schools’ golf champions

The winning Taradale High School team of, left to right, manager Simon Rutherford, Kayla Van De Ven, Zack Swanwick and William Rollings. Photo / Golf NZ

It would be easy to look at the golfing history made by Taradale High School and think it was all down to Zack Swanwick.

Yes, Swanwick won the individual title at the New Zealand Secondary Schools’ Final, at Pleasant Point Golf Club on Monday.

And, yes, the University of Florida-bound 17-year-old really does appear to be a star in the making.

But let’s not overlook Kayla Van De Ven.

If anyone won Taradale this national teams’ title - hard on the heels of their maiden Hawke’s Bay championship - then it’s arguably her.

Van De Ven was not only the leading female player at Pleasant Point, her rounds of 70 and 73 saw her finish in the tie for fourth overall.

With Swanwick shooting 5-under for his two rounds, Taradale beat Auckland’s King’s College for the overall title by six shots.

Eight of the 19 competing schools had at least one female player in their three-person team, but none could top Van De Ven.

“I honestly wasn’t expecting to be the leading female,” she said.

“I was surprised, but very, very excited. And I was definitely surprised at my final ranking for both the men and women.”

The format saw the scores from two of each team’s three players count. The Taradale team of Swanwick, Van De Ven and William Rollings took the lead early on day one and never relinquished it.

Van De Ven said getting that far was an achievement for the trio. The previous format had seen teams of four players, with three scores to count.

That gave Napier Boys’ High School a bit of a mortgage on the Hawke’s Bay title, until this year.

With the change of format, Van De Ven and Swanwick were determined to make 2023 a memorable one for their school.

“I’m just very pleased that we won and we’re able to bring the trophy back home to Hawke’s Bay,” she said.

“I’m really happy that it’s mixed gender because, with only women, I wouldn’t get the chance to do this. I’m the only woman at Taradale who plays.

“We’re just happy that there’s enough good players to have a team and to be able to get down to this.

“It’s honestly hard to believe. We had the highest handicapper and the lowest handicapper [in the tournament] in our group and still managed to come out on top.”

Zack Swanwick was the individual win at the national secondary schools' gold finals. Photo / File Pic.

Rollings is the high handicapper at 13.6, with Swanwick the low at +6.5. Then there’s Van De Ven on 1.4.

Her immediate goal is now the national under-19 individual girls’ tournament, which starts at the Timaru Golf Club on Wednesday.

Van De Ven missed the cut last year, but has set her sights on a potential top-10 finish this time.

It’s all part of the Year 12 student’s longer-term aim of emulating Swanwick and earning a college scholarship in the United States.

Swanwick is the defending under-19 boys’ New Zealand champion, with Tuhourangi Wilson and Maximillian Drescher the other Hawke’s Bay players in the field at Timaru this week.

Oliver Derbie, Saul Barker and Cordell Henare are lining up in the under-16 division.

Hamish Bidwell joined Hawke’s Bay Today in 2022 and works out of the Hastings newsroom.