Rotorua Boys' High School's Reef Pohatu (left), 16, James Tauariki, 16, Nikau Priest, 14 and Josh Robinson, 16, are set to compete at the NZ Secondary School Golf Final. Photo / Stephen Parker
Rotorua Boys' High School's Reef Pohatu (left), 16, James Tauariki, 16, Nikau Priest, 14 and Josh Robinson, 16, are set to compete at the NZ Secondary School Golf Final. Photo / Stephen Parker
After nurturing the talent of a star such as Danny Lee, Rotorua Boys' High School golfers are always going to face big expectations.
If their form so far this year is anything to go by, the crop at the school could soon ensure Lee is not the only household namewhen it comes to Rotorua golfers.
The team of Reef Pohatu, 16, James Tauariki, 16, Nikau Priest, 14 and Josh Robinson, 16, go into Monday's New Zealand Secondary School Golf Final on the back of winning the Super 8 and Bay of Plenty Intercollegiate championships.
Te Puke Golf Club professional Jared Pender took over as Rotorua Boys' High School director of golf at the start of this year and said he pleased with the progress the team had made leading into the event at the Cromwell Golf Club.
"They're going good. You certainly notice who puts in practice, we've changed the team up a bit with a couple of younger ones.
Rotorua Boys' High School's Reef Pohatu (left), 16, James Tauariki, 16, Nikau Priest, 14 and Josh Robinson, 16, are set to compete at the NZ Secondary School Golf Final. Photo / Stephen Parker
"James has played there before but the rest haven't. We'll go down there a couple of days before and do some good study, take our time with some practice rounds."
Pender said despite golf often being an individual sport, he was confident the boys he had selected would perform well as a team.
"They're all good team players, it will be a good team environment down there. They all get along really well and they all want to do it, they put in the work.
"They need to focus on being patient. Being a national title I imagine some of the younger guys will be a bit nervous but if they just be patient, you never know what will happen. They don't know how any other players are going."
He said patience and ability to focus on themselves was something the players were learning this year.
"There's been plenty of times when they've been out playing and thought they were going crap but they've actually finished all right. They just need to focus on their own game, focus on what they're doing because no matter what they do they can't affect how other people are playing."
Rotorua Boys' High School director of golf Jared Pender. Photo / File
James Tauariki will captain the team and is likely to let his golf do the talking, having made headlines for all the right reasons during the past year.
In October, he shot an incredible 13 under par 57 at the Springfield Golf Course, the kind of score many seasoned veterans can only dream of. In January, he won the New Zealand Māori Golf Tournament and in March he represented New Zealand in China.
James said he was looking forward to playing in his second New Zealand Secondary Schools Final.
"I'm excited, it would be pretty cool [to win]. There's always good competition at nationals.
"China was pretty cool. I learned that, even though New Zealand is pretty small, we can still compete with the rest of the world."
Schools qualified for the 2019 New Zealand Secondary Schools Final Burnside High School (Christchurch), Chilton St James (Wellington), Christchurch Boys' High School (Christchurch), Hamilton Boys' High School (Hamilton), Macleans College (Auckland), Napier Boys' High School (Napier), Nelson College (Nelson), New Plymouth Boys' High School (New Plymouth), Otago Boys' High School (Dunedin), Pinehurst School (Auckland), Rotorua Boys' High School (Rotorua), Southland Boys' High School (Invercargill), St Kentigerns College (Auckland), St Peter's School (Cambridge), Wakatipu High School (Queenstown), Wellington College (Wellington), Whangarei Boys' High School (Whangarei).
The last five New Zealand Secondary School Golf winners 2018: Macleans College, 2017: Christchurch Boys' High School, 2016: Burnside High School, 2015: St Peter's School, 2014: Massey College.
