Wellington's Dan could be the man?

New Zealand Age Group Championship – Four players share the lead in Taupo 

 

It’s anyone’s guess who is going to claim the New Zealand Under 19 title tomorrow in Taupo.

 

Four golfers – Wesley Jeon (Whitford Park), Daniel Hillier (Manor Park), Henry Spring (Whakatane) and Sam Vincent (Riverside) – hold a share of the lead at one-under par after an intriguing second round in the squally conditions today at the Centennial Course of the Taupo Golf Club.

 

The most impressive of the leaders was Wellington golfer Hillier who climbed 33 places on the leaderboard when he carded the round of the day, a five-under par 67.

 

The 16-year-old, who opened with a four-over par 76, produced an exciting second round that included an eagle, five birdies and a double bogey to jump in contention.  

 

He said playing in the Auckland versus Wellington game at this venue two weeks ago was the ideal preparation.

 

“That match has really helped me adjust to the firm conditions we are experiencing here this week,” he said.

 

“I worked extra hard today to take advantage of the par fives which played short with the wind out there. I managed to do that with an eagle and a birdie.”

 

Hillier form is pretty impressive considering his lack of tournament play. He hasn’t play much in 2014 but in his four starts he has been able to record four top-10 finishes with a best finish of third at the North Island Under 19 championship in Hamilton.

 

Now, he heads into the final round with a great chance to win his first national title and will look to back up his best competitive round from 2014.

 

Hillier knows that he has to keep attacking to promote his chances of lifting the trophy.

 

“I am excited and looking forward to the challenge of competing for a national championship. It is going to be good fun.”

 

Meanwhile tournament favourite Kadin Neho will look to bounce back in the final round.

 

The former NZ Amateur Champion, who opened in spectacular fashion when he carded a six-under par 66, looked to be cruising to big lead this morning when he was two-under par through the turn.

 

At that stage, the 18-year-old from the Whangarei Golf Club held a six shot lead and it looked like no one would catch him.

 

But golf is a funny game and Neho came unravelled on the homeward nine to welcome all comers back into contention.

 

The New Zealand rep made a quintuple bogey 9 on the par four 13^th and a double bogey six on the 16^th on his way to carding a forgettable six-over par 78.

 

Neho will begin the final round one shot back from the leading quartet and alongside Waikato golfer Denzel Ieremia as they both look to win the NZ Under 19 title on their last chance.

 

Meanwhile Keanau Howe had a moment to remember today at Centennial. The 15-year-old from the Springfield Golf Club had a hole in one on the sixth hole. He hit a five iron straight at the pin on the 168m par three and it went in for the third ace of his career.

 

The NZ Age Groups Championship is a national junior title which has been won by many of the best players from both sides of the Tasman.

 

The names on the NZ U19 trophy, the likes of Greg Turner (1981), Michael Campbell (1987), Michael Long (1988), Adam Scott (1996), Steven Bowditch (2000) and Jason Day (2004) illustrate that it is a stepping stone event on the golf pathway.

 

Women’s Report: O’Connor feeling the nerves as the leader

 

Canterbury amateur Hillary O’Connor wasn’t as impressive as she was on day one but still holds a two shot lead heading into the final round of the New Zealand Age Group Championship.

 

The 15-year-old from the Russley Golf Club, who opened with a three-under par 69 at the Tauhara Course of the Taupo Golf Club, carded a three-over par 75 in the windy conditions of round two. 

 

O’Connor has a two shot lead over Holly Winter (Fitzroy) and Shantael Ligaliga (Aviation) as she looks to win her first national title and admitted to feeling the nerves of trying to close it out.

 

“I am kind of nervous because I’ve never been in this situation before,” she said. 

 

“This is the first time that I’ve led a tournament and that’s how I was feeling this morning. [It’s] not too bad I’m trying not to think about it, just play my own golf and do my best.”

 

Auckland reps Wenyung Keh and Joanna Kim are four and five shots back respectively and they will look to put the pressure on the leader early in tomorrow’s round.

 

O’Connor made two birdies, three bogeys and a double bogey in her second round effort that she said was pretty difficult at times in the wind.

 

She will celebrate her 16^th birthday on Sunday and is hoping for an early present in Taupo.

 

“That’s what I’ve been saying to my mum. It would be amazing, a really good opportunity to do something big like this. I’ve never won a real big tournament before or if I got the chance to win it. It’d be amazing, I’d be so happy.”    

 

New Zealand Age Group Championship Round 2 Scores – Taupo GC (Par 72):

Men (Centennial GC):

143 Daniel Hillier (Manor Park) 76 67, Wesley Jeon (Whitford Park) 72 71, Henry Spring (Whakatane) 70 73, Sam Vincent (Lochiel) 70 73

144 Denzel Ieremia (St. Andrews of Hamilton (Hamilton)) 74 70, Taylor Gill (Bay of Islands Kerikeri Incorporated) 71 73, Kadin Neho (Whangarei) 66 78

145 Sam Reese (Peninsula) 76 69, Fletcher Broderick (New Plymouth Inc.) 74 71, Mark Hutson (North Shore) 72 73

147 Sungwoo Han (Queenstown) 76 71, Bailey Smith (Mt Maunganui) 74 73, Charlie Hillier (Te Puke) 72 75, Harry Hillier (Te Puke) 71 76, Matthew McLean (Harewood) 70 77

148 Josh Sedgwick (Manawatu) 72 76

149 Dominic Brettkelly (Hororata) 75 74

150 Jake Meenhorst (Huapai) 75 75, Matty Tiplady (Maungakiekie) 75 75, Samson Kim (Nelson Inc.) 71 79

151 Tadhg Campbell (Muriwai) 78 73, Chang-Gi Lee (North Shore) 77 74, Bayley Waudby (St. Andrews of Hamilton (Hamilton)) 75 76, Kevin Koong (Huapai) 75 76, Jayden Hunter (Feilding) 70 81

152 Keanau Howe (Springfield) 80 72, Mason Lee (The Grange) 77 75, Matthew Morris (St. Andrews of Hamilton (Hamilton)) 77 75, Ben Bowmar (Whangarei) 76 76, Christian Nitsche (Whangarei) 74 78

153 Julian Fowler (Northland) 78 75, Jordan Woodall (Cambridge) 78 75, Thomas Hardy (Coringa Inc.) 76 77, Nicholas Quantock-Holmes (Manawatu) 75 78, Wyatt Amerson (Mt Maunganui) 74 79

154 Marcel Boet (Christchurch) 81 73, Keiran Brook (Whitford Park) 80 74, James Hydes (Peninsula) 79 75, Andrew Drummond (Greenacres) 79 75, Michael Birchall (Manawatu) 78 76, Ruben Clinton (Tauranga) 77 77, Charlie Smail (Walton) 76 78, Jason Yoo (Waitikiri) 75 79

155 Jake Hallinan (Weedons Country Club) 80 75, Brady Bernard (Paraparaumu Beach) 79 76, Rhys Harold (Palmerston North) 79 76, Jarron Pittams (Te Ngutu) 78 77, Kingsley Wright (Whakatane) 78 77, Riley King (Boulcott's Farm Heritage) 78 77, Inia Logan (Cromwell) 77 78, Jake McLachlan (Temuka) 76 79, Connell Kilpatrick (Russley) 75 80

156 Sul (Banaba) Im (Remuera) 80 76, Hamish Wise (Lochiel) 79 77, Tom Parker (Russley) 78 78, Benjamin Joseph (Inglewood) 77 79, Austin Hamilton (Kaiapoi) 77 79, David Van Drimmelen (Manor Park) 77 79, Brayden Mazey (Royal Wellington) 77 79, Michael Li (North Shore) 75 81, Jared Edwards (The Grange) 74 82, Manaaki McColl (Remuera) 70 86

157 Braden Keown (Waipu) 81 76, Willy (T587) Eady (Royal Auckland) 80 77, Ethan Jones (Manaia) 79 78, Cameron Leigh (Tirau) 78 79, Liam Finlayson (Feilding) 77 80

158 Joe Tiplady (Maungakiekie) 81 77, Daniel Dexter (Royal Wellington) 80 78, Tyler King (Omokoroa) 80 78, Connor McFadzien (Russley) 79 79, Jed Toomey (Russley) 78 80, Dallas Williams (Wairoa) 76 82, Nick Hanna (Greenacres) 76 82, Jordan Loof (Akarana) 75 83, Keegan Wiltshier (Omanu) 73 85

159 Joshua Dasent (Hawkes Bay) 86 73, Sam Yoshifuji (Gulf Harbour Country Club) 81 78, James Fellows-Ford (Tairua) 81 78, Cooper Wattam (Paraparaumu Beach) 79 80, Mitchell McLean (Royal Auckland) 79 80, Terry Kim (Queenstown) 78 81, Leonard Powell (Clarks Beach) 77 82, Con Tencate (Tauranga) 75 84, Daisuke Nakano (Russley) 75 84, Daniel Lundt (New Plymouth Inc.) 74 85

160 Henry Bryden (Russley) 84 76, George Helsby (Royal Auckland) 80 80, Jamie Connell (Manawatu) 79 81, George Smith (Waverley) 79 81, Taylor Belsham (Shandon) 78 82, Kaleb Tawera (Maraenui) 78 82, Sung Jin Yeo (North Shore) 77 83, Taine Manaena (Hastings) 77 83, Tommy Liu (Remuera) 76 84

161 Sam McGovern (St. Andrews of Hamilton (Hamilton)) 80 81, Liam Brown (Hawkes Bay) 79 82, Liam Robertson (Cromwell) 79 82, Gray Laurenson (Waikanae) 79 82, Jonathan Blair (Lochiel) 78 83, Joshua Morris (Te Ngutu) 76 85

162 Erik Robert Jorgensen (Aviation Country Club of NZ) 85 77, Taine Lincoln (Tolaga Bay) 85 77, Ben Murray (St. Andrews of Hamilton (Hamilton)) 84 78, Nathanial Solomon (Wairoa) 83 79, Ryan Western (Miramar) 82 80, Hamish Scarsbrook (Temuka) 81 81

163 Luke Wedd (Puketitiri) 82 81, Steven Lang (Northland) 80 83

164 Karan Nalam (Royal Auckland) 85 79, Stephen Wilding (Hastings) 84 80, Tyler Oleary (Westown) 80 84, Andrew Forgesson (Marlborough) 80 84, Isaac Butcher (Cambridge) 80 84, Hamish Drummond (Greenacres) 80 84

165 Matthew Wong (Miramar) 85 80, Dean Gray (Masterton) 83 82, Shane Wolfe (Morrinsville) 81 84

166 Samuel Jones (Manaia) 83 83, George Wilkins (Martinborough) 81 85

167 Te Raumati Hawea (Poverty Bay) 85 82, Joshua Roberts (Manaia) 85 82, Davis Oh (North Shore) 82 85

168 Edward Cochrane (Weedons Country Club) 88 80, Bradley Cottam (Inglewood) 85 83, Kelvin Chiu (Remuera) 84 84, Jack Turner (Queenstown) 80 88

169 George Barralet (Miramar) 86 83, Matthew Watts (Poverty Bay) 83 86, Tiger Houston (Narrows) 78 91

170 Casey O`Connor (Coringa Inc.) 88 82, Tom Ritchie (Remuera) 86 84

171 Reid Perry (Manawatu) 86 85, Adam Vining (Russley) 84 87

172 Callum Judkins (Queenstown) 84 88, Shaun Campbell (Omanu) 83 89

173 Byron Willis (Tauranga) 91 82, Oscar Andersen (Carterton) 88 85, Cameron (T591) Harlock (Royal Auckland) 88 85

174 Nicolas Matijasevich (Remuera) 89 85, Oliver Barnsdall (Pio Pio Aria) 88 86, Keegan Faith (Otaki) 87 87

175 Connor Barker (Remuera) 86 89, Mitchell Newport (Nelson Inc.) 86 89

177 Quentin Newport (Golden Downs) 89 88, Zach Boyle (Boulcott's Farm Heritage) 86 91, Daniel Price (Winton) 84 93

178 Nicholas Roberts (Russley) 93 85

179 Benjamin Baker (Russley) 90 89, Jordan Burgess (Boulcott's Farm Heritage) 90 89

180 Joshua Bailey (Invercargill) 96 84, Lucas Van Den Elzen (Narrows) 91 89, Connor Levesque (Paraparaumu Beach) 90 90

181 Jordan Cooke (Tauranga) 92 89, Regan Hindmarsh (Patutahi) 86 95

189 Liam McFarlane (Omanu) 92 97

73 Nick Coxon (Narrows) 73

90 Logan Allen (Tirau) 90

 

Women (Tauhara GC)

144 Hillary O'Connor (Russley) 69 75

146 Holly Winter (Fitzroy) 74 72, Shantael Lucy Ligaliga (Aviation Country Club of NZ) 72 74

148 Wenyung Keh (Pakuranga) 76 72

149 Joanna Kim (The Grange) 74 75

150 Focus Jonglikit (Narrows) 77 73, Brydie Hodge (Levin Inc.) 76 74

151 Amelia Garvey (Kaiapoi) 77 74, Rose Zheng (Pakuranga) 76 75

152 Krystal Hu (Gulf Harbour Country Club) 81 71, Juliana Hung (Russley) 76 76, Brooke Hamilton (St. Andrews of Hamilton (Hamilton)) 75 77, Momoka Kobori (Rangiora) 75 77, Esmeralda Pafal Ligaliga (Aviation Country Club of NZ) 73 79

154 Ela (Aj) Grimwood (Gulf Harbour Country Club) 78 76, Yena Chang (Akarana) 77 77, Bohyun Vyan Park (Gulf Harbour Country Club) 77 77

155 Gabrielle Palado (Manor Park) 77 78, Brooke Kingi (Whangaroa) 77 78, Celeste McLean (Manaia) 77 78, Alanna Campbell (Omanu) 75 80

157 Jocelynn Katu (Aviation Country Club of NZ) 85 72, Jessie Ji (Howick) 78 79

158 Siyi Keh (Pakuranga) 79 79

159 Shanice Croft-Kemp (Whangarei) 78 81, Soktaera Sean (Northland) 78 81, Zeta Rose Syme (Cambridge) 76 83

160 Sam-Maree Brown (Masterton) 81 79, Olivia Dempster (Remuera) 81 79

161 Anushka Jephson (Huapai) 83 78, Jodae Ngaheu (Tauranga) 81 80, Tyla Winter (Te Ngutu) 79 82

163 Jessica Huang (Pakuranga) 82 81

164 Katie Pryce-Jones (Peninsula) 84 80

167 Tara Raj (Wanganui) 84 83, Shani White (North Shore) 83 84

169 Bridget Connolly (Waitemata) 86 83, Glenn Hayward (Paraparaumu Beach) 83 86, Tineka Kumeroa (Manaia) 81 88

171 Jodi MacAlister (Northern Wairoa) 88 83, Carmen Lim (Manukau) 87 84

172 Emmalee Morrell (Tauranga) 85 87

173 Annabel Evans (Port Chalmers) 87 86

177 Silvia Brunotti (North Shore) 87 90

180 Soktaerodh Sean (Northland) 84 96

193 Brylee Winter (Manaia) 99 94

196 Sara McDonald (Drummond) 95 101