Hākinakina iwi Kāinga: Golfer Hunter Edwards has lofty goals

Hunter Edwards. Photo / Simon Watts

Hākinakina community news is a weekly update on our local community sports and athletes.

At the tender age of 15, Hunter Edwards has already established a list of key milestones, but has an eye for more.

The Lakeview golf member has made the cut and finished in the top 10 in all the tournaments she has entered this season. She has a top round of 69 off the yellow tees, but perhaps more impressive is her 73 off the longer blue tees. She plays in the Senior Men’s Lakeview Club Team, BOP Booth Shield and the BOP Women Team. As an individual, she is the current BOP Eagles Junior Player of the Year, U17 BOP National Eagles Representative, and went undefeated in the recent U21 BOP event, also being voted player of the tournament.

Let’s take a step back and think about this... Hunter is competing and dominating in the BOP against players six to seven years her senior.

Hunter’s handicap of 0.9 suggests she will be a must-see when she tees up for next week’s NZ Māori Golf Nationals in Taupō. She will be looking to add to her record, where she has previously won the Ladies Nett trophy.

Josh Edwards and Hunter at Lakeview Golf.

But Hunter has huge aspirations beyond next week. She would love to play for New Zealand, and is eyeing up options for a golf scholarship overseas to a Division 1 university. This ultimately creates a pathway into the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA). She is extremely grateful to her Lakeview golf whānau and the wider golfing community for their support and assistance in getting her to where she is today. I reckon the Rotorua golfing community are pretty proud of her, too.

For your community sports news and stories, please contact Crispian.stewart@eves.co.nz.