Peter Williams: Stronger golfers required

If New Zealand Golf wanted confirmation about where its development programme stands, it received a rude shock at the Junior World Cup in Japan last week.

Ben Wallace, Samuel Shin, Peter Spearman-Burn and Gary-John Hill placed 10th of 15 teams in the under-19 tournament.

In the 72-hole teams strokeplay competition, where the best three scores out of four count each round, New Zealand finished a whopping 37 shots behind Norway.

Ahead of New Zealand were other countries that don't immediately spring to mind when you say "golfing super power" - Colombia, the Netherlands and Argentina.

This is an event where New Zealand has often done well. In 2001, the team was just a Matthew Holten three-putt away from winning. Bradley Iles and Eddie Lee have also worn the New Zealand shirt there in the past five years.

The boys who went to Toyota City last week are being groomed as the next generation of Eisenhower Trophy players. Despite going with high hopes of success, they were never in contention. One of the reasons touted comes as a shock. Ben Wallace told me he didn't think the team was fit or strong enough.

"We had to carry our bags. I always have a trundler and wasn't used to walking 18 holes with a bag on my shoulder. The last four holes were uphill and every day, I dropped two or three shots on those holes."

The tournament was dominated by Norway's Marius Thorpe, who finished 17 under par. He's only 17 but obviously a special prospect. Already he's won the European Amateur title, has a start in the British Open because of that, and played for Europe in the Bonallack Trophy at Middlemore in April.

Just quite how Norway, of all places, has produced a golfer of this quality, I'd love to know. I suspect the answer is raw talent honed by excellent coaching, a supremely competitive attitude and regular high quality competition.

Wallace, a strapping teenager who works out regularly at the gym, was also shocked by how comparatively short he and his team hit the ball.

"Guys from other countries hit it so much further than us. I played with Thorpe on the first day. He was hitting a couple of clubs less than me into every hole but on the last day, the American guy I was playing with was 70 to 80 metres longer than me off the tee every time. That really did me in mentally."

Top coaches recognise the issue. James Kupa, one of the newly appointed national panel, knows young players now not only have to be taught technique and touch, they must be strength conditioned as well.

The era of the golfing athlete is well and truly here.