Golf: Brothers in Bay of Plenty team for Booth Shield

Brothers Wiremu Kepa, left, and Nikau Wihapi-Priest have qualified 1 and 2 for the Bay of Plenty team to compete in the national junior Booth Trophy over Labour Weekend.

Brothers Wiremu Kepa and Nikau Wihapi-Priest are this weekend lining up for the Bay of Plenty team at golf's prized Booth Shield tournament in Lower Hutt this weekend.

Nikau, 15, is a Rotorua Boys' High School student while Wiremu, 11, is a pupil at Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Te Matai.

In qualifying they finished second and first respectively, but almost missed out on the chance to try and get in the team.

Bay of Plenty Junior Golfing Society secretary/treasurer Graham Stewart says aspiring team members were invited, based on their results, to take part in a qualifying tournament and then the best went on to a straight 36-hole final.

''They couldn't attend on the [36-hole] day, but had the option of playing within a week.
They had to play at Tauranga and when I mentioned it to them on a Sunday, by the Monday they had already gone out and played 36 holes,'' he says.

''It was just lucky I said if you can't play, then you can change dates. They were very grateful they could have that opportunity, and that was the one that gave them the first and second spots.''

Graham says the last siblings to play in the Bay's Booth Trophy team were Alanna and Shaun Campbell who were members of the shield winning side of 2011.

He says there is a lot to like about the brothers' game.

''I do know they put their heart into golf and get on with the job. They are tenacious and get on with the other boys in the team - they are held in pretty high regard by others.
And they are very well supported by their whānau.''

During the school holidays Nikau was a member of the Bay of Plenty team that finished fourth in the interprovincial junior golf tournament in Cambridge and also won the nett division in a junior masters event in Taupō.

Mum Angie Wihapi says while Nikau loves golf, Wiremu plays golf, and is good at it.''

''When [Wiremu] shows up, he normally performs - he knows how to play golf,'' she says.
Wiremu has watched and been encouraged by his older brother.

''His brother loves to encourage him and teach him and says 'come and train'. And [Wiremu] has watched his brother - that's where a lot of it has come from.''

The Booth Shield is a prestigious national tournament for junior golfers competed for by teams of five boys and five girls. Play starts tomorrow and will continue until Sunday.