The 16-year-old, Otago’s no.1, shot a sizzling 6-under 67 during the Skyline Charity Classic last Saturday.
In June she’d matched local Sumin Kang’s prior record of 68 which Kang set in 2019.
Yoonae’s coach Ben Gallie, teaching pro at Arrowtown’s Millbrook Resort, believes she’s grown confidence from her selection this year for New Zealand teams for the R&A Junior Open in Scotland, in July, and a more recent international tournament in the Philippines.
Her well-performed NZ junior teammate Cooper Moore has also been a help, he says.
Gallie adds making the final of the NZ Amateur this month in Titirangi, Auckland, where she scored a hole-in-one, "should also give her a huge amount of confidence, the fact she’s obviously in the top echelon of NZ".
He says the Kelvin Heights course gives you plenty of birdie opportunities.
"It’s a skill, though, to stay under and keep it under for the 18 holes."
