Otago will field its youngest team ever when the top quintet tees off against Hawke’s Bay-Poverty Bay in the Toro women’s interprovincial on the Sherwood Park course in Whangarei on Monday morning.
The national event has been held for more than 60 years and in the early days there was a distinct lack of youth in the game.
Shelley Duncan, the director of golf at Balmacewen, broke the ice, making her debut as a 15-year-old in 1982.
But now young players are the norm in many provinces and Otago has followed suit with four of the five selected as teenagers, although Abigael Crawford celebrated her 20th birthday last month.
The team finished second in the South Island event last month and a top-10 placing next week would lay a platform for future success.
Otago No5 Sumin Kang (12) has eclipsed Duncan’s record and becomes the youngest to represent Otago women in the tournament after winning two of her four games in the South Island event.
Danielle Bailey and Annabel Evans (both 16) will fill the top berths, and Crawford is tipped to perform well at No 4.
She has played in higher positions in recent years.
In sharp contrast, Otago’s No3, Susan Greig, has a wealth of experience, having competed in 14 national tournaments after making her debut in Wellington in 1996.
Her best performance was winning six of seven games at St Clair five years ago, while she has recorded five wins and a half at Wellington in 1996 and Weston in 2002. She has dominated the trial events this year.
Greig will mark a milestone this week, playing her 100th game in the event when she tees off against Caitlin Maurice (Bay of Plenty) on Tuesday morning.
Otago will play Hawke’s Bay-Poverty Bay and Southland on Monday with a tough day against Bay of Plenty and Canterbury on Tuesday.
Otago has a bye on Wednesday morning, meeting Tasman in the afternoon and will finish with another hard contest against Waikato on Thursday.
The team
Otago Toro women
Danielle Bailey (Wakatipu Junior), Annabel Evans (Otago), Susan Greig (St Clair), Abigael Crawford (St Clair), Sumin Kang (Wakatipu Junior)Reserve: Tracey Storer (Belleknowes).
