JNJG Juniors Enjoy Kiwi Experience
The 12 JNJG juniors who were lucky enough to travel to New Zealand thanks to their performances in the CHS Championships, Under 15 Newton Shield and the PSSA Championships thoroughly enjoyed their kiwi experience last week. It was a busy week with lots of activities and plenty of golf but also loads of fun. Here is a recap of the last few days of the trip:
Day 4:
Today was the first round of the North Island Under 19 Championships. The girls were playing at the Ngaruawahia Golf Club whilst the boys were at St Andrews Golf Club. With the smaller numbers in the girls field there was only one lot of tee times but the boys had a morning and afternoon field. All of our boys, except our young Stuart Gordon (Forbes), were off in the afternoon field. The conditions at both courses were pretty good and although the fairways were pretty dry, the greens were rolling great. This event was solely a scratch event with 36 holes being played then a cut of the top 60 boys plus ties and the top 15 girls plus ties then moving onto the final 18 hole round at St Andrews Golf Club. The girls finished with the following scores: Sheridan Gorton 74, Madeleine Nurdi 80, Belinda Ji 83, Brianna Baird 84, Teresa Nurdi 86, Sophie Yip 90. With the girls finishing early we all piled into the van and headed across to St Andrews to support the boys who were finishing up their rounds. The boys finished with the following scores: Fidel Concepcion 75, Josh Armstrong 82, Harvey Remfrey 95, Eli Simon 72, Jaid Nelson 86, Stuart Gordon 98. The juniors weren't too happy with their play but a pep talk from myself and Gary had them in better spirits and looking forward to the second round. That night the team and all of the parents and supporters who had come to New Zealand gathered at my uncle Bill's house where everyone enjoyed a bbq, a few drinks and relaxing chat and the juniors took a dip in the pool followed by a spa. It was a great night and a good opportunity for everyone to relax and enjoy each others company. We got back to the hotel by 9.30pm so it was by far the earliest night we had had on the trip. The juniors were all really tired so an early night was just what they needed before a big second round.
Day 5:
The boys had the early start today while the girls were at their usual time. Unfortunately most of the girls had a rough day at the course with no one making the cut. Our two youngest girls were the only ones who improved on their first round. Belinda Ji (Concord) fired a second round of 80 to make her runner up in the girls under 13 division. Sophie Yip (Concord) improved on her first round with an impressive 85 off a handicap of 18. The scores were as follows: Sheridan Gorton 86, Madeleine Nurdi 83, Belinda Ji 80, Brianna Baird 90, Teresa Nurdi 88, Sophie Yip 85. Over at the boys course it was a similar story however three of our boys managed to play good enough to make the cut. The boys finished with the following scores: Fidel Concepcion 74, Josh Armstrong 78, Harvey Remfrey 91, Eli Simon 80, Jaid Nelson 88, Stuart Gordon 103. Fidel, Eli and Josh made it into the top 60 boys. Apart from Stuart, everyone else had the afternoon off and while some of the boys spent the time practising, I indulged the girls in a couple of hours of retail therapy at the Te Awa Shopping Centre. It was nice to be back at the hotel early because it meant we could go out for an early dinner and get another early night, well early compared to the rest of the trip. We decided to head back to our favourite little Ilatian restaurant where our nice waitress again looked after us. After a big meal and a great laugh, and also plenty of selfies with the JNJG camera we headed back to get some much needed rest before our final day of play.
Day 6:
Our boys Fidel, Eli and Josh were off in the morning so we all headed out to the course to support our troops. The course was playing extremely tough with very fast greens and strong winds. Many of the players we watched were struggling with the conditions. Josh struggled with his putting during the round despite having a great long game and closed his tournament with a round of eight over par 80. Eli had a tough time in the wind and finished with a 15 over par 87. Fidel was playing some great golf and got to within one shot of the leader. All of the JNJG crew were out in force supporting him. Unfortunately he just fell short of the title but he conducted himself well and gave a great thank you speech on behalf of all of us. The tournament presentation took place immediately after play and we were all really proud of Belinda Ji (Concord) who finished runner up in the girls under 13 division and Fidel who was the overall runner up. We also supported fellow JNJG member Justin Kim who played in the event and won the boys under 15 division. After a few photos at the golf club we headed back to the hotel for a chilled afternoon and to get ready to head home. We decided to order in some pizzas for dinner and I put on a slide show of all the photos from the trip (at least 1000 of them). We all had a good laugh and enjoyed an ice cream to finish off the evening. At this point some of the juniors departed our company to continue their holiday with their parents. The rest of the juniors attempted to watch a dvd and stay up all night despite the early start we were in for.
Travel Day:
Today was an extremely early start. We had to be on the road by 3.45am to get to Auckland airport for our flight home. We got checked in and returned the rental vans before getting some much needed breakfast. We cleared customs and managed to sneak in some quick shopping where the juniors got to pick up some NZ souvenirs and presies for their families before heading to the gate. Our flight home was actually ahead of time and we had no other issues getting through customs and meeting parents who were eagerly waiting on the other side.
The trip was a huge success and the juniors all had a fantastic time. They behaved extremely well and all made JNJG proud with the way they conducted themselves. They made our job very easy and extremely enjoyable. They learnt so much about the culture in NZ but more importantly they learnt about playing in major events and life on the road as a golfer. They met some great juniors and played some great courses. I thoroughly enjoyed sharing my homeland with them and my family loved meeting all of them. I certainly hope we can have more juniors enjoy a trip like this in the future. It was my pleasure to take such a great group of juniors away and on behalf of Gary Chapman and I, I would like to say thank you to all of the juniors and parents who made the trip so memorable.
Sheridan Graham-Tupaea
JNJG Schools Team Unbeaten on Inaugural New Zealand Tour
Our JNJG Schools Team have put in a fantastic effort so far on the inaugural New Zealand Tour. We have managed to successfully win our two matches against Northland and North Harbour and we hope to continue our form heading into The North Island Under 19 Championships on Wednesday. The team consists of the Boys and Girls scratch and nett winners from the CHS Championship, Jack Newton Under 15 Shield and the Primary Schools Sports Association Championships. The following players make up the team this year:
Fidel Concepcion
Sheridan Gorton
Eli Simon
Brianna Baird
Josh Armstrong
Jaid Nelson
Madeleine Nurdi
Teresa Nurdi
Harvey Remfrey
Stuart Gordon
Belinda Ji
Sophie Yip
Here is a full report of our trip so far:
Travel Day:
It was an early start for us as we gathered at Sydney International Airport at 7.15am. After handing out team shirts we headed to check in and then made our way to customs ready to depart. After a quick breakfast we headed to the boarding gate. Unfortunately the plane we were getting onto was delayed and so we ended up boarding late. We then sat on the tarmac for close to and hour before finally getting up into the air. We landed in New Zealand at approximately 4.30pm and after a long wait for our rental vans we hit the road and headed to Orewa. We arrived at a busy holiday park and after checking into our cabins and unpacking we went in search for dinner. By this time it was nearly 9pm and many of the restaurants were closed. We decided to go for a drive and after a few minutes came across Burgerfuel. This is a kiwi gourmet burger chain and I thought it would be popular with everyone so in we went. After a yummy dinner we thought we would pop into Countdown (Woolworths) and get some food for our breakfast. It was now almost 10pm and then workers were getting ready to close the store. Our first task as a team was to see how fast we could get everything we needed for the next few days. We did a great job and managed to complete our shopping and let the staff close the shop on time. Heading back to the holiday park we were all still running on Australian time so although it was 12pm here it still felt like we were at 10pm Australian. After a long day we all headed to bed ready to get up bright and early for our first match.
Day 1:
After a long travelling day on Saturday we all found it a little hard getting up this morning. After some breakfast we hit the road and headed north towards Waipu. It was an hour and 15 minute drive through some fantastic scenery before we reached the links course of Waipu. The course was a smaller country course but nestled on the beach it had spectacular scenery. The format for the day was matchplay with a twist. The rules were that for every win we scored one point and if we halved the hole with our opponent then we got half a point. The object was for each of us to get as many points as possible to add to our team total. The team with the most amount of points at the end of the match was declared the winner. Unfortunately we lost the toss and Northland made us tee off first. However losing the toss did not deter us from our goal. We convincingly took out the match and headed into day 2 with a good amount of confidence. We made our way back to our accommodation and then hit the beach for a dip (well those who were brave enough to get in). The beach outside the holiday park was awesome and even though we were only there for an hour or so we had a great time. The younger kids took the opportunity to splash the older players before being thrown into the waves themselves. We then headed down into the small township of Orewa to get some dinner. I tried to convince the juniors to try the fish and chips with some Watties tomato sauce but only had a few keen ones. After our dinner we made our way back to the holiday park for an early night and plenty of rest before our second match.
Day 2:
Today we had a little bit of a sleep in before making our way out to the Gulf Harbour Country Club on the Whangaparoa Peninsula. It was a beautiful day and despite the wind being a bit strong it was a warm day. We met our opponents for the day, North Harbour and play got underway. It was a great treat to play on this amazing golf course. Apart from the course being in excellent condition the views are absolutely breathtaking. There were quite a few pictures taken today. Once again we managed to pull off a win and so are unbeaten for our tour and head in the North Island Under 19 Championships full of confidence. We headed back to the holiday park and gathered our swimmers to go for a dip at the Waiwera Thermal Resort. The park had many different pools all at different temperatures. It also had a few water slides and a movie pool. It was loads of fun and a good way to relax after two good days of golf. We decided to head back to Burgerfuel for dinner as everyone really enjoyed it the first night. Back at the holiday park we took some time to enjoy our final night in Orewa and get our gear packed up for the next day.
Day 3:
We had a nice sleep in today, as we were not hitting the road until 9.45am. Once we had checked out of the holiday park we headed north towards Te Hana. We were treated to a guided tour and concert at Te Hana Te Ao Marama. It was certainly an eye opening experience and we learnt a great deal about the Maori Culture. After the performance we again hit the road and headed south for Hamilton. After a two-hour drive and a quick McDonalds stop we finally arrived. We checked into our hotels and headed to our respective golf courses for a practice round. The girls took plenty of notes about the Ngaruawahia course while the boys got to know St Andrews. It was 8pm by the time we got back to the motel but we still headed out in the hope that some restaurants would still be open. We found a great little Italian restaurant and were well looked after by the Waitress there. We are now back in our rooms and getting some rest for our first round tomorrow.
More reports and results to come shortly. All photos will be posted on the facebook page as soon as possible.
