Campbell 'buzzed' at Lees success

Ace Masterton golfer Ben Campbell got a "special buzz" from learning of the outstanding exploits of Kiwi youngster Danny Lee at the United States amateur match play championships.
Lee, 18, took that prestigious event with a commanding 5 and 4 win over American Drew Kittleson in the 36-hole final on Sunday but he came off second best when he battled it out with Campbell 17, for the New Zealand under-23 stroke play title on his very own Bridge Pa course at Hastings back in January of this year.
The two went head-to-head over the last of the four rounds there with Lee facing a three-shot deficit at the start of the day but being just one shot behind after four holes, and all square by 15.
And that was the way it stayed until the last hole where Lee got the putting "wobbles" and missed putts from 7m and 1m to leave Campbell standing over a 60cm putt of his own to take the spoils.
Campbell admits that only then did he realise the importance of the occasion but he kept his cool, sunk the putt without any fuss or bother and took the spoils.
"It was huge, really huge" said Campbell when asked to reflect again on that success yesterday.
"I probably didn't think too much about it at that time but beating Danny like that & yes, I guess it was something special, wasn't it?"
Campbell isn't too surprised, however, that Lee has gone on to become the number one-ranked amateur in world golf, a standing consolidated by his latest victory in North Carolina.
"He is so strong mentally, he always believes he can win," Campbell said of Lee.
"He probably isn't a lot better than a lot of players off the tee but his short game is incredible & chipping in is nothing unusual for him.
"He does it more than anyone I can think of."
Campbell is sure Lee's successes on the international amateur circuit will have a positive rebound effect on the country's other top young talent.
"It gives you a special buzz to know that us Kiwis can be right up there with the best of them, it encourages you to work harder to get there yourself," he said. "He's a great role model for the rest of us."
Campbell, who has represented New Zealand at junior level, returned from a two-month break from competitive golf when he took part in the Auckland open stroke play championships at Manukau over the weekend .
Only two of the four rounds were actually played because of atrocious weather conditions and Campbell was "pretty pleased" to shoot 74 and 69 to finish eighth overall.
This coming Saturday and Sunday will see Campbell representing the Wellington senior men's team in an inter-provincial clash with Auckland at Taupo and then a week later he will contest the New Zealand under-19 championships at Wainuiomata.