YOU COULD say he flirts with, if not fits, the mould of the Benjamin Button of amateur golf.
Kieran Goodall sports a designer golf cap and an ivory long-sleeved top with the big tick, which offers glimpses of bling around his neck.
All red herrings. No, none of that is actually indicative of why the 18-year-old from Hawke's Bay parallels the curious case of the classic movie character in the golfing world.
After all, scores of trendy teenagers project such materialism regardless of whether they are cutting a purposeful path in life.
The tell-tale signs are in Goodall's almost accidental stubble, as he plants his gangly frame in the interview chair.
Unlike many starry-eyed youngsters, Goodall doesn't yearn for the hallowed greens of some pristine American golf course that has staged a major tournament or the day he'll be able to engage in witty repartee with elite amateurs on the cusp of metamorphosing to a full-blown professional.
In the mould of the character Brad Pitt brought to life on celluloid in 2008 - a man who appears younger as his mind gets older - Goodall is embryonically fulfilling his golfing aspirations against the tide in the stream of life.
The former Lindisfarne College pupil has been there and done it - his playing highlight is ploughing through the Torres Pines Golf Course (the venue where Tiger Woods won his last major victory in 2008) in 2009 as a New Zealand age-group representative competing in the World Junior Championship.
Add to that the moments he has practised alongside Australian professional Jason Day, who was an amateur at the Hill International College, in Brisbane, where Goodall attended from the age of 15.
If that's isn't convincing then comprehend the former Westshore Primary School pupil has enjoyed the services of Noel Blundell, a psychologist who helped put retired Pete Sampras' mind in the right space at the peak of the American tennis super star's career.
That's the sort of pedigree Goodall takes into today's annual Interdistrict Northern Quadrangular Tournament at the Napier Golf Club.
He is making his debut as a member of the eight-men Stortford Auto Sales Hawke's Bay senior men's amateur representative golf team who teed off this morning against defending champions Waikato, Bay of Plenty, and East Coast/Poverty Bay.
Teeing off at No 6, Goodall will card 36 holes today and 18 tomorrow.
A four-men Hawke's Bay junior team will aim to wrench the under-19 bragging rights off BOP.
Goodall is mindful he may come across as someone who took to the cradle of golfing civilisation with a silver spoon in his mouth.
Needless to say, he knows his place in the fold and the urgency to build a rapport with his senior teammates in their quest to seal a berth for the interprovincials - the symbol of amateur provincial teams' supremacy - at the end of the year.
A shiny divot repairing tool when juxtaposed with a plastic one, Goodall realises his foundation to success won't be a quantum leap into the la-la land of professionalism.
"It all comes down to belief that you'll make it on a lot of hard work," he says.
The antithesis of his pathway resonates with what Benjamin Button's adoptive mother repeatedly says in the movie: "We're all heading in the same direction, we just take separate routes to go there."
A product of the Tigermania generation, Goodall, however, reveals his inspiration stems mostly from big-hitting John Daly although he sees the irony of how both Daly and Woods have grappled with their demons in the game of life.
"Michael Campbell is still an influence because it shows that if he can do it [win a major] from here then anyone can be good at it from any where in the world," he says.
A budding cricketer with Napier Old Boys' Marist juniors and an Aquahawk swimmer, the son of retired steel manufacturers Max and Raewyn Goodall, of Bay View, took up golf when he was 13 years old.
His grandparents, John and Maureen McMillin, taught him to keep his head down and follow through at the Maraenui Golf Club, where he enlisted in the junior programme under professionals Duane Todd and, later, Dan Lunn.
Ironically, Goodall's grandfather, who was instrumental in the amalgamation of Napier City and Napier Rovers soccer clubs in 1973, had tried to steer him into football.
"I didn't have the drive for soccer and I wasn't that fit either," Goodall says with a grin, adding he was talented at most sports but gravitated towards golf.
It wasn't easy leaving his family and friends to board at the Brisbane college but Goodall knew the importance of capitalising on the break.
With some of Australia and Indo-China's top amateurs studying there, Goodall spent two years across the ditch. He was elected head boy last year and also earned the distinction of becoming the dux.
The boy who arrived with a nine handicap had consistently whittled it down to become a scratchie at a college that boasted five full-time coaches and monthly visits from a physiotherapist, psychologist and dietician.
Over the past three years he always returned home to compete for the Bay junior team.
No doubt, the option to take golf as a subject was pivotal in attending the institution.
"I was at the biggest golf range next to guys who will become professionals.
"It wasn't about how many hours you practised but the quality of practice."
Securing a scholarship at an American university at the end of this year is on Goodall's agenda. He wants to graduate with a business degree.
"I don't just want to go for golf. If it doesn't happen then I want to have something to fall back on."
SNAPSHOT:
What do you love about golf?
The challenge of mastering golf because you'll never hit the same shot.
What do you dislike about it?
The frustration when you can't get the ball in the hole.
Favourite food: Thai fried rice.
Drink: Jack Daniels and Coke.
TV show: Prison Break because it's full of suspense.
Music: B.O.B, an American hip-hop artist, because he has unique sounds.
Who would you not like to sit next to on a flight?
My mother (Raewyn) because she hates turbulence.
What would you be playing if you weren't golfing?
I'd be a cricketer.
Least favourite household chore: Making my bed because I don't care if it's made.
Mum does it but no one looks into my room so ...
If you could have anything for your next birthday, what would it be?
A trip with my mates to Las Vegas for a big party.
TEAMS:
The men's teams for the annual Interdistrict Northern Quadrangular Tournament to be played at Napier
Golf Club this weekend:
HAWKE'S BAY Stortford Auto Sales:
Seniors (in playing order): 1 Ben Swinburne, 2 Sam Hucker, 3 Sam Penrice, 4 Matthew Mouat, 5 Paul Malcolm, 6 Kieran Goodall, 7 Russell Mitchell, 8 Matt Edmondson.
Reserve: Zane Hinton.
Manager: Allen Forrest.
Juniors (U19s): 1 Kaedyn Stops, 2 Maddison Noakes, 3 Carlos Tawera, 4 Max Gill.
Reserve: Josh Dasent.
Manager: Kim Stops.
BAY OF PLENTY:
Seniors: 1 Brad Kendall, 2 Landon Edwards, 3 Sam Davis, 4 Hayden Beard, 5 Craig Hamilton, 6 Andrew
Stewart, 7 Victor Janin, 8 Ruel Perdersen.
Manager: Jay Carter.
Juniors: 1 William Howard, 2 Cameron Neal, 3 Ben Shanly, 4 Jin Hwang.
Manager: John Laing.
POVERTY BAY/EAST COAST:
Seniors: 1 William Brown, 2 Simon Jenkins, 3 Steven Donnelly, 4 Andrew Higham, 5 Dion Miller, 6
Bruce Yates, 7 Wyn MacLellan, 8 Thomas Donovan.
Manager: Walter Mackey.
Juniors: 1 Quentin Carmichael, 2 Jared McDonald, 3 Peter Westrupp, 4 Dallas Williams.
Manager: Dave Keown.
WAIKATO:
Seniors: 1 Mat Perry, 2 Compton Pikari, 3 Leonard Morgan, 4 Daniel Graham, 5 Jason Boobyer, 6 Steven
Kuggeleijn, 7 Troy Scott, 8 Mike Worsfold.
Manager: Unavailable.
Juniors: 1 Denezel Ieremia, 2 Luke Phillips, 3 Nixon Coxon, 4 Matt Morris.
Manager: Unavailable.
SCHEDULES
Today, round one, 1st tee: Waikato v Hawke's Bay.
10th tee: Bay of Plenty v Poverty Bay/East Coast.
Round two, 1st tee: Hawke's Bay v Bay of Plenty.
10th tee: Waikato v Poverty Bay/East Coast.
Tomorrow, round three, 1st tee: Bay of Plenty v Waikato.
10th tee: Hawke's Bay v Poverty Bay/East Coast.
TROPHIES
Interpovincial Trophy: Overall.
Conway Shield: Waikato v BOP seniors.
Gordon Brothers Salver: HB v PBEC juniors.
Wai-Bay Shield: Waikato v HB seniors.