National Academy named for 2014

NZ Golf: National Academy named for 2014

Auckland golfer Tae Koh’s impressive form in 2014 has been recognised by the New Zealand Golf selectors as the newcomer to the revised National Academy. 

Koh, who won the Australian Amateur in January, has been added to the new Tier One level of the Academy and he joins regular New Zealand reps Joshua Munn, Vaughan McCall, Luke Toomey and Blair Riordan. 

In Tier Two, former NZ Amateur Champion Kadin Neho is joined by promising Waikato golfers Denzel Ieremia and Nick Coxon and Tasman golfer Ryan Chisnall.

Meanwhile in the Women’s Academy, Wellington’s Julianne Alvarez and Auckland No.1 Munchin Keh have been recognised as the elite players in Tier One.

The Tier Two players include New Zealand Amateur Champion Chantelle Cassidy, Auckland No.2 Wenyung Keh and former NZ Amateur Finalist Hanna Seifert. 

New Zealand Golf has adjusted the structure of its Player Development Programme to have one National Academy, made up of two tiers, to replace the previous separate National Academy and the National Development Squad levels.

“The reason for this is to focus attention, time and funding on a smaller group of players at the elite and pre-elite level, while broadening our approach to the development of emerging junior aged players,” explained Gregg Thorpe, the High Performance Manager at New Zealand Golf.

“The focus for the emerging junior players will be to provide more international playing opportunities alongside the running of national training camps.” 

The Tier One players are golfers who have been consistent reps for New Zealand and are among the frontrunners for national selection, principally with the World Amateur Team Championship to be staged in Japan in September in mind.

“Our Tier One players are all golfers who have performed nationally and internationally and we are excited to see them continue their development as the leading players in the National Academy,” said Thorpe.

Thorpe said the selection of Koh, who has been a standout performer in recent time, made sense.

“Tae narrowly missed selection in the National Academy last year and since then it has been great to see him take his game to a higher level. I was fortunate to be there in Adelaide [when he won the Australian Amateur] and I was really impressed by his composure on such a big stage. We look forward to supporting his ongoing success in the National Academy,” said Thorpe.

When he won the Australian Amateur, Koh was famously only the third Kiwi golfer to win that event.

The 19-year-old from the Manukau Golf Club followed it up with runner-up finishes at the New Zealand Stroke Play, North Island Stroke Play and the New Zealand Amateur Championship.

The other Tier One players have all shown their quality over time. Munn won the NZ Amateur, Riordan was the North Island Stroke Play Champion, Toomey the NZ Stroke Play Champion and McCall has a solid international record behind him which includes qualifying for the US Amateur Championship.   

In the Women’s Academy, Munchin Keh and Alvarez have been the standout performers for the past two years.

Keh has now won four times on the Charles Tour to go with her runner-up finish at the New Zealand Stroke Play and her victory at the North Island Stroke Play in 2014.

While Alvarez won the NZ Amateur title, the NZ Under 19s and the Harewood Open titles last year in her breakthrough season.

The Tier Two players have also been standouts in national events and have been earmarked as golfers of the future.

They will be assisted by New Zealand Golf as they look to take their game to the next level. 

“We look forward to working closely with all of the players and their coaching teams to assist with their development.”

New Zealand Golf is staging a High Performance Camp for the National Academy this week at the St Peter’s Golf Academy in Cambridge.

New Zealand Golf – National Academy

Men:

Tier One: Joshua Munn (Manawatu), Tae Koh (Manukau), Vaughan McCall (Gore), Luke Toomey (Riverside), Blair Riordan (Takaka)

Tier Two: Kadin Neho (Whangarei), Denzel Ieremia (Hamilton), Nick Coxon (Riverside), Ryan Chisnall (Greenacres)

Women:

Tier One: Julianne Alvarez (Manor Park), Munchin Keh (Titirangi)

Tier Two: Chantelle Cassidy (Cambridge), Wenyung Keh (Pakuranga), Hanna Seifert (Riverside)

Peter Thornton | New Zealand Golf
Media & PR Manager