Teen wins Northern Wairoa Open

To say Kadin Neho won the Northern Wairoa Open would be a major understatement. The precocious talent was on fire during the weekend, leaving the rest of the field trailing far behind.
Neho finished the 54-hole Dargaville tournament with an 11-under total of 205, an amazing 19 shots clear of the runner-up in the gross competition, Remuera's Matt Cormack, who finished on 224.
The Whangarei High School teenager shot a first round one under 71, followed by a remarkable six-under 66 and then finished with a 68.
"I wasn't doing anything different but my game really worked on both days, I was stroking the ball pretty good and hitting the greens," the delighted Neho said.
Although no stranger to the course, the 15-year-old has never played it anywhere near as well before and his consistency over the tournament was encouraging to coach Quentin Diment.
"Even in that first round where he didn't putt that well, he still acquitted himself well with a sub-par round and then he hit the ball maybe a little bit better in the second and third rounds," he said.
Diment said he has been working on a few things with Neho but the youngster's natural talent had seen him move on to the national radar.
"I suppose you'd say he's coming along very nicely but I don't want to put too much pressure on him by loading him with expectations but if he continues to develop then it's certainly pretty promising."
Neho's success in senior tournaments isn't a new phenomenon for those who follow Northland golf. Last year he won the the Busby Plate - the Northland Senior Matchplay Championships - and Northland Golf selectors considered promoting him to the senior interprovincial side.
Neho gave the Northland selectors little choice but to include him in the final squad after winning all three of his Garrard Shield matches - the final selection tournament - at the Waitangi Golf Club, to become the youngest player to have been included in the senior squad at the age of 14.
The team led by Scott Wightman and Brad Bonnington had a mixed tournament but Neho, like fellow promising youngsters Lee Neuman and Sean Masters, are regarded as the future of the game in the province.
Neho will start this weekend's tournament at the Wellsford Golf Club as the raging hot favourite.
Full results of the Northern Wairoa Open tomorrow.