Off the tee: Scholarship ends Sam's hunt

Teenager Sam Hunt is doing what millions before him have done: he's off to the bright lights and action of Las Vegas.

But it isn't a quick buck from Lady Luck that the Rotorua 18-year-old is after - it's an education in the lecture rooms and on the golf courses of the American desert area.

"It's going to be real interesting," Hunt said after completing the paperwork this week for his move. Hunt leaves next month for his first semester as a freshman at Nevada University. He will be back in New Zealand by mid-December.

He said the period would be ideal to settle into school and its 12-man golfing team, which will play 12 tournaments on the American College circuit in a year.

The decision to head overseas on a full scholarship, worth about $100,000 over four years, did not come easily for Hunt: he has a fine academic record and was spoiled for choice.

Since leaving Rotorua Boys' High School last year he has been considering the merits of fulltime golf and combining his passion with education.

"This gives me something to fall back on. I don't want to turn professional because I have to but because I want to," he said.

A week in February with long-time friend and fellow New Zealand player Bradley Iles in Wellington helped Hunt to make up his mind.

He has been courted by several American universities looking to bolster their golf teams with the winner of back-to-back world secondary school individual and team titles.

Hunt's decision was made as he left on a short golfing excursion to Britain last month to play in top amateur events there.

He stopped over in Las Vegas to pick up some new clubs from manufacturer Titleist and made a reconnaissance visit to Nevada University.

In the end, it came down to facilities and the interest shown in the New Zealand senior representative.

Hunt had considered studying at Victoria University in Wellington, but decided the Nevada environment would be more helpful.

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New Zealand will have to be up with the birds when they compete in the Queen Sirikit Cup in South Korea next week.

The team of Tina Howard (Taupo), Penny Newbrook (Rotorua) and Enu Chung (Auckland) have 7.30am tee times on all three days of the contest, and the Woo Jung Hills Country Club course is at least 50 minutes away from where they are staying in Seoul.

"They will want to have some practice before teeing off, so we're certainly going to be up early," non-playing captain Anna Brabyn said before the team left Auckland.

"I took Penny and Enu to the Song Am Cup in Korea last year, but that was at Daegu. It was certainly a great help that Enu can speak the language."

The 15-year-old Chung is part of one of New Zealand golf's youngest senior teams. Newbrook is 19 and Howard in her early 20s.

The Sirikit Cup was to be played in May, but had to be postponed because of the Sars epidemic. The team contest is over three rounds of strokeplay, with the two best on each day to count. Play begins on Wednesday.

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By winning the United States Senior Open at Toledo, Bruce Lietzke has finally moved on from being the answer to a golf nut's trivia question to a champion in his own right.

The big Texan was almost forgotten in second place when John Daly came from nowhere to win the United States PGA tournament at Crooked Stick in 1991.

This week he relegated the legendary Tom Watson to second place as he won his first major on either tour by two shots.

Third, and the only other player in the field to break par for the 72 holes, was Vicente Fernandez.

Lietzke, who has won 13 PGA and six senior tournaments, collected US$470,000 ($794,000) for his weekend's work. s

Thirteen-year-old Michelle Wie continued her remarkable season in the US by making the cut in the ShopRite Classic on the LPGA tour and finishing 52nd at two over.

Among those she beat was champion English golfer Laura Davies, who finished at three over.

New Zealand's Marnie McGuire was 24th at two under.

Angela Stanford finished at 16 under to take her first victory on the tour.