Golf: Young Tigers ready for national final

Craig Hockings (left) Setiny Pheng, Belinda May and Bradley Foster.

Four golfers from the Northland district have qualified to compete at the national final of the Junior Tiger.

Setiny Pheng (Sherwood Park), Craig Hockings (The Pines), Belinda May (Northland) and Bradley Foster (Whangaroa) have made the cut and will compete in the national final at Manawatu Golf Club next month.

Belinda, winner of the Junior Tiger 12-14 Girls' Division, is excited to be heading to the national final.

"I am really looking forward to meeting new people and I will enjoy attending the event for the second time."

The qualification will add to Belinda's recent success, having also won the Auckland US Kids Tour player of the year resulting in an invitation to play in the US Kids Teen World Champs at Pinehurst, North Carolina - the epicentre of golf in the US.

"My short game will be a focus, along with keeping myself calm," Belinda says.

The young golfers will play for the chance to represent their district at the national final and potentially travel to the US to represent New Zealand in the World Junior Golf Championship.

New Zealand Golf high performance co-ordinator, Liz McKinnon, said there were a number of players who had gone on from Junior Tiger to achieve great things in golf.

"Lydia Ko, is a great example, who was a national winner in 2009 and is now the number one female golfer in the world."

The national final of the Junior Tiger competition will be held at Manawatu Golf Club on April 12.