One of the brightest young stars in New Zealand golf has a chance to put himself firmly in the international picture.
Robby Turnbull is just 17 years old and still at school at Selwyn College in Auckland but has already amassed an impressive amateur career at home, includingthis year winning both the amateur and professional titles at the New Zealand Stroke Play Championship to claim his first national title.
He has been rewarded with an invitation to play the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship (AAC) at Taiheiyo Golf Club in Japan this week due to his amateur world ranking of 411th.
Speaking to the Herald before heading to overseas, Turnbull said golfers in the region look to the AAC as a must-play event and he felt privileged to attend at such a young age.
“It feels pretty special, every player in Asia has looked up to this event and always wanted to play it at some stage so it’s cool to play it this early on in my career.”
Not only has every winner of the AAC gone on to have a successful professional career, that list includes 2021 Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama, but the winner also gains entry to the 2025 Masters and Open Championship.
“Every past winner is now known for their professional career so it’s safe to say it’ll set you up for your career,” Turnbull says.
Invitations to major tournaments are rare in the amateur world of golf, but Turnbull says seeing fellow Kiwis Dan Hillier and Kazuma Kobori make major appearances this year as professionals has given the whole New Zealand golf scene confidence.
“I couldn’t even begin to imagine what that would feel like to be honest [playing at a major]... you grow up and you play these events and you see Kazuma and Dan doing well in New Zealand and then doing unbelievably well overseas so it’s really cool to see what they’re doing.”
Turnbull won’t be the sole Kiwi in the field, with fellow up and comers Josh Bai, Jayden Ford and Cooper Moore attending who have all been making names for themselves in their own right.
Bai, Ford and Turnbull will then compete at the AAC Teams event in Vietnam as the New Zealand team just nine days after the individual tournament.
Turnbull says the Kiwis have all known each other as they came up through the New Zealand scene and will be able to lean on one another for support.
“That’ll be unreal, it will be an honour to wear the fern and play for New Zealand. I think we’ve got a good team so it should be fun.”
The AAC begins on Thursday, October 3 (NZT) at Taiheiyo Golf Club, Japan.
Will Toogood is an online sports editor for the NZ Herald. He enjoys watching people chase a ball around on a grass surface so much he decided to make a living out of it.
