Golf: Bet on bright future for a Vegas student

Former Rotorua schoolboy Sam Hunt is playing for one of the best college sides in the US. Picture / Daily Post

Sam Hunt will celebrate his 21st birthday tomorrow doing what he loves best, playing golf in the Bay of Plenty Open at Whakatane.

Five years ago, as a Rotorua schoolboy, he was the toast of the New Zealand game as he won the national strokeplay title up the road at Mt Maunganui at the age of 16.

He headed the talented Rotorua Boys' High team, who beat the best in the world, and he was first-choice for New Zealand junior teams.

Ill-health derailed his golfing career for a while, but he comes home as an established member of one of the top-ranked university teams in the United States.

Hunt, who was always wise beyond his years, took up a scholarship at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, two years ago. He has a couple of more years there before graduating with a BSc degree in kinesiology (the study of the mechanics of body movements).

For New Zealand tourists, Las Vegas conjures visions of 24-hour raves to the sound of casino pokies. But Hunt notes that this is a very small part of the city.

"When I first went there I thought it would be hard to concentrate," he said. "But basically the Strip is only one street and that's where the tourists are, and it's pretty crazy.

"The rest of Las Vegas is 100km square and that is just a normal city. There's nothing to do but play golf and go to school."

Hunt normally has classes until 12.30 or 1pm and then heads for one of the top-class golf courses which abound in Las Vegas.

The golf squad is 12 strong and during the season there are qualifying rounds each week to decide the five who will play for the university at the next tournament.

Basketball was once the highest-ranked sport at the Las Vegas university until the number of players in Cadillacs alerted the national authorities to a recruiting scandal.

Now golf is No 1 - and Hunt's caddie is strictly for the golf course!

With top American amateur Ryan Moore playing, the university team were ranked No 1 in the US. They are still in the top five. Hunt's best ranking nationally was 45th among college players. Three seniors have graduated and Hunt will be one of the most experienced players in the 2005-2006 line-up.

While he has been home, he has been studying online to get his degree over faster, but there has still been time for golf, including rounds of 68 and 69 during the Waikato winter strokeplay at Lochiel last weekend.

"My game has definitely improved since I've been in the States," he said. "I'm more relaxed and my putting is better."

So will it be kinesiology or golf when he graduates? "Golf, I think. It's still what I want to do."

When Hunt looks back on that teenage triumph at Mt Maunganui, he should be able to gain some confidence for a professional future.

Among the also-rans that week was a young Aussie called Steven Bowditch, who this year won the Jacob's Creek Open and finished second in the NZ PGA tournament at Clearwater.

He is fourth on the US Nationwide tour money list and well placed to gain a place on next season's US PGA tour.