Golf: Secondary school golfers to tee off in Rotorua

Some of New Zealand's best secondary school golfers will be in action at Springfield Golf Course on Monday and Tuesday.

Rotorua Boys' High School is hosting the New Zealand Super 8 Schools Golf Tournament, which it has won 10 times since it started in 1999. It won six consecutive tournaments between 2001 and 2006.

However, Rotorua Boys' victories have been few and far between in recent years, the last win coming in 2011 - something the current crop of young golfers are keen to turn around. They have plenty to be inspired by - former student turned professional golfer Danny Lee led the school to four victories between 2003-2008.

Rotorua Boys' director of golf, Nick Davey, a New Zealand PGA Class A professional, said he was feeling positive about the team entered in this year's tournament.

"It's really exciting because we've got four boys at the moment with handicaps of three and under, which is quite competitive. We have a realistic chance.

"Springfield is their home course as well, so we have home advantage, we play there all the time. Springfield is a tricky course to play and it demands a whole lot of different shots. We're looking forward to putting in a really awesome effort and competing for the title this year," Davey said.

The tournament is a 54-hole, best three out of four gross scores competition. Hamilton Boys' High School were the 2017 champions, although Davey said his team always had an eye on Bay of Plenty rivals Tauranga Boys' College.

"Hamilton had a whole lot of Year 13s last year, who are gone now. Our arch rivals are Tauranga Boys' and they have a team of four boys with better handicaps than us - they have some star players. They've had the wood over us for a couple of years, which I don't like to admit, but we're getting closer.

"About 80 per cent of the field will have a handicap of 10 or better, which is a really high level. I think this is a really prestigious event for our schools, it's quite a big deal so it is very competitive.

"Unfortunately, this year, we don't have Gisborne [Boys' High School], but the other seven schools are sending really strong teams."

He said the most important thing for his team was staying composed.

"That's the main goal. I know as a player, I've seen it before, once we start losing our composure we go off the boil a little bit."

While it was a highly competitive event, it was also an opportunity to embrace the camaraderie between boys' schools.

"When you look at the national titles in any school sport, a lot of the time it is one our Super 8 schools that claim it. It's great to be exposed to that calibre of competition.

"In the two years I've been here our golf academy has grown from two or three boys to 14 boys."

Super 8 Golf Tournament - Past winners

1999: Rotorua Boys' High School
2000: Hamilton Boys' High School
2001: Rotorua Boys' High School
2002: Rotorua Boys' High School
2003: Rotorua Boys' High School
2004: Rotorua Boys' High School
2005: Rotorua Boys' High School
2006: Rotorua Boys' High School
2007: Hamilton Boys' High School
2008: Rotorua Boys' High School
2009: Hamilton Boys' High School
2010: Rotorua Boys' High School
2011: Rotorua Boys' High School
2012: Hamilton Boys' High School
2013: Tauranga Boys' College
2014: Palmerston North Boys' High School
2015: Tauranga Boys' College
2016: Palmerston North Boys' High School
2017: Hamilton Boys' High School