Golf: Northland lad Tigerish talent

Tiger Woods and Northland don't really have too many ties, but maybe Julian Fowler is about to change that after winning a Junior Tiger title in Manawatu.

The 14-year-old Northland Golf Club player won the 12-14 Boys' Division on the second hole of the playoff, describing the win by saying he felt like Woods after sinking a 5m birdie and celebrating with a fist pump.

"I felt like I was Tiger Woods," said Fowler after his win on the weekend. "It was pretty close and I couldn't believe it when the result came through. To win a national title at the Junior Tiger - it was the biggest moment of my golf career so far.

"I have been in playoffs before at the Northland Age Group Champs, so that helped [with the pressure]. I was really calm and when that birdie putt went in I was really excited.

"It means so much to me to win this. I have been training really hard and practising with my coach. We sat down and talked about this and set the goal to win the national final and do to it was really cool."

Fowler's coach, Quenton Diment, said while it might be slightly premature to talk about going professional, Fowler was a golfer who ticked all the boxes around what to look for in a potential pro.

"He [Fowler] definitely could go pro," said Diment. "He has a lot of the attributes. He's the best practice of the colt [other top Northland golfers] but on top of that he's an intelligent practice.

"He's one of the few guys that comes to me to ask 'have I played this course, what do I look out for on it'."

Diment added that Fowler didn't just ask about courses, but about the skills needed to take his golf further.

As part of Fowler's win, he qualifies himself to head to America to compete in the Junior World Golf Championships. On top of his on-course win, he also won a trip to Disneyland after being drawn as the luckiest of the four Junior Tiger winners.

Three years ago, Lydia Ko won the 12-14 age division of the Junior Tiger Final as a 12-year-old and is now the World No1 amateur.

More than 1000 kids took part in regional qualifiers, with the leading four from each district competing in Manawatu.