2015 ACT Schools Team Announced
The 12 years and under ACT School Sport Golf Team competed at the National Championships held at Newcastle Golf Club from 1st to 5th November 2015. The team was selected from trials held in September at Fairbairn Golf Club. This is an annual event that attracts considerable talent and potential champions of the future from around Australia. This year the ACT participated for the first time and was welcomed with open arms by the other states.
It was a great honour for the boys and girls to be involved at this level of competition. They had the privilege of playing on a golf course ranked in the top 20 in Australia, and it certainly lived up to its ranking. The fairways were like carpet, the greens fast and undulating, and the rough was like a jungle.
The ACT team consisted of 8 boys and 4 girls who are listed below:
Rowan Harrison - Marist College
Ryan Ulrich - St Monica’s
Lachlan Chamberlain - Mt Stromlo High
Michael Nguyen - Radford College
Rory Di-Campli - Marist College
Lachlan de Jongh - Marist College
Cody Doyle - Kingsford-Smith
Tan Nguyen - John Paul College
Cassandra Linares - Canberra Girls Grammar
Taylah Ellems - Merici College
Rodaylin Mina - Canberra Girls Grammar
Chloe Koh - Emmaus Christian College
The first day of competition consisted of a four man Ambrose match against the other states wherein one of our boys’ teams scored a gross round of 71 (1 under par), placing them first in the nett component of the event. Congratulations to Michael, Lachlan, Ryan and Rowan. On days 2 and 4 players competed against other states in the Craig Parry Shield, playing 36 holes of stroke. On day 3 students went on an excursion to the Adventure Park in Forster where they spent the day on the flying fox and waterslides. Despite the rain a great, albeit muddy, time was had by all.
One of the highlights of the week was receiving tuition from Mr Nathan Green, a former US PGA tour professional. Mr Green gave the players some tips on golf, an insight into playing on the US PGA Tour and the hard work and dedication required to succeed on and off the course.
There were many fine individual performances from all the team. They showed plenty of resolve and composure to continue on when things didn’t go their way. This competition has seen many past champions pass through its ranks and is a stepping-stone to bigger and brighter things for the ACT golf team. The experience of playing in a national competition, in front of a large crowd will be invaluable for their development. As will the exposure to talent identifiers who were in attendance at the event.
Congratulations to the team! Thank you to Mrs Kerry Bryant, teacher at Amaroo Primary School, and Mrs Gail Goiser, ACT Monaro District Golf Association Vice President, Junior Golf Development Officer and Captain of Queanbeyan Golf Club for coaching and managing all the children.
If you want to be a part of the ACT Team for 2016 make sure you work hard to improve your handicap before selections next year.
