Napier’s Zack Swanwick has gone back-to-back to defend his under-19 boys title at the New Zealand Age Group Championships held last week at the Timaru Golf Club.
Grace Zhan, 17, Ryan Xie, 15, and Sophie Yu, 14, also played well to take out the under-19 girls’, under-16 boys’, and under-16 girls’ titles respectively.
Zack shot a six-under 66, which included a hole-in-one to finish 11-under-par for the tournament after shooting 70 and 69 in the first two rounds.
He began the final day a shot ahead of the competition, opening with a birdie at the second before hitting the perfect shot on the fourth for an ace.
Zack reminisced over his history with the competition.
‘‘It was a weird walk down the 18th . . . I’ve been playing this event since I was playing in the under-13 division, so to sign off like this is amazing.’’
He said the icing on the cake was the hole-in-one on the fourth for his third career ace.
‘‘Honestly, it was one of the worst struck shots I hit all day, and it went in.’’
Playing in the group in front of him was Grace, who overcame a two-shot deficit to win the under-19 girls’ title in clinical fashion.
She shot 73 and 72 to trail Amy Han, 18, by a couple at oneunder-par and shot another 72 to get the job done.
Like Zack, she also hit a perfect shot on the fourth.
‘‘I hit a six iron from 168 yards; I actually didn’t see it go in.
‘‘I just hit it, and I knew it was a good shot, so I looked away. I heard some people yelling and screaming, and they told me it went in.
‘‘I couldn’t believe it.’’
Timaru Golf Club president Mike Hogan said the tournament was an outstanding success.
‘‘From a club point of view — we are very happy with how everything ran, we made sure players had ample opportunity to warm up and the catering was of a high standard as always.’’
Mr Hogan said the event was topped off by the weather.
‘‘Although there were some cold starts, it was a week of really nice warm sunshine.’’
He said it was especially nice as some of the players had come from Auckland, The Coromandel and Hawke’s Bay.
‘‘They had experienced some pretty significant weather events that had disrupted their lives, businesses and definitely their golf.
‘‘It was nice for them to play on a dry course with nice overhead conditions.’’
The club now turns its attention to the major Spring Tournament competition that begins on Saturday.
