Robby Turnbull, Chloe Lam, Ricky Kang and Lannie Inoue have lived up to their pre-tournament hype, going wire-to-wire to win their respective age brackets at the South Island Age Group Championships at Otago Golf Club.
Reigning New Zealand Stroke Play champion Turnbull added another national title to his mantelpiece, leading after every round to win the under-19 boys division by a couple of shots at even par after shooting rounds of 66, 75 and 72, beating Brodie Ferguson and Yuki Miya, who finished joint second.
"I always love coming down here and playing Balmacewen. It’s good to get a win at a track I really enjoy," Turnbull said.
"I came into the week with some high expectations. To be honest, it wasn’t the greatest mindset to come in with because Balmacewen can easily ruin your round in a couple of holes. I just tried to stay focused and steady."
His fellow Remuera Golf Club member, Chloe Lam, won the under-19 girls division by seven shots over North Island Women’s Stroke Play champion Emma Zheng, with Japan’s Mikana Suto finishing with the bronze medal.
Lam shot 74, 74, and 73 to go wire-to-wire, finishing 2-over-par for the tournament.
"I’ve been working towards a national title for a long time now, so to finally win one is pretty cool."
In the under-16 boys division, Ricky Kang also led from start to finish, winning by a gargantuan seven shots after consistent scores of 67, 71 and 69, finishing 6-under-par. Japan’s Kanichiro Katano and Remuera’s Ishaan Shah finished in second and third with a 1-over and 5-over-par total respectively.
"I felt pretty good going into the tournament. I was excited and kind of nervous heading into today — I’m just happy I got it done,"Kang said.
Finally, Japan’s Lannie Inoue also led from the beginning to the end, winning the under-16 girls division by three shots after shooting 72, 71, and 79 to finish on a 3-over total.
Juwon Kin and Yoonae Jeong shared the silver medal, both finishing their tournaments strongly with 3-under and 2-under rounds respectively, finishing on 6-over for the tournament.
