A strong field of 51 juniors competed in the Canterbury Age Group Championships played at the Russley Golf Club. The Championship event was played over 36 holes with players as young as seven years of age competing. Players took advantage of the great course conditions in the morning before the wind started to make an impact during the afternoon. Hiroki Miya (Russley) put one hand on the trophy after the morning round after shooting a 3 under par 69 to have a four shot lead over Kazuma Kobori (Rangiora) heading into the afternoon round. Miya continued his sub par form after chipping in for eagle on the 18th to card a round of 70 in the afternoon to win the Canterbury Men's title by nine shots from Tom Parker (Christchurch) followed by Dominic Brettkelly (Hororata) finishing in third position. Kobori held on to win the U16 title with rounds of 73 and 78 from Hayato Miya and Kansuke Shin (both Russley) in second and third positions respectively. In the U13 section up and coming Christchurch Golf Club member Tim Seeto put together two great rounds to remember shooting 75 in the morning and 78 in the afternoon to win the section, to his credit he also achieved a top 10 placing in the overall field, finishing tied for seventh. Seeto also picked up the Golf Foundation Cup for the best net score over the 36 holes open to Under 13 girls and boys.
The Women's title was won by fourteen year old Juliana Hung (Russley) who played steady in the morning with a round of 72 to be tied with Hillary O'Connor (Pegasus) but then shot a three under par 69 to win the overall title by seven shots from O'Connor. The best 36 hole women's net was won by Amy Weng (Russley) who continues to grow in experience competing at a higher level.
The event is also features a teams competition played for over the afternoon 18 holes. The Russley Blue team of Hiroki Miya, Hayato Miya, Ben Baker and Dominic Brettkelly won the U19 Gross Teams title while the Russley Gold team of Cooper Moore, Kansuke Shin, Yuki Miya and Fergus Williamson won the U19 Net Teams title.
Thanks for the Russley Golf Club for hosting the event with the course in great condition.
Click here to view the results.
