Golf: Hand up for rookie pros

Former New Zealand No 1 Greg Turner. Photo / Bay of Plenty Times.

A new Sparc-funded initiative hopes to help young golf professionals fare better on the world's fairways.

Golf New Zealand will receive $300,000 from Sparc over each of the next two years, with the money targeted at producing "world-class professional golfers". Over the past decade, New Zealand has seen countless promising young amateurs join the professional ranks, only to struggle to make their mark on the various tours across the world.

The issue is hardly unique to this country in the highly competitive global sport, but there has long been a view that more could be done by the national body to assist rookie professionals.

"They are often sent out in the world with $5000 in their back pocket and a slap on the back," says former New Zealand No 1 Greg Turner. "We wave them goodbye and send them off into the sunset."

Sparc high performance manager Martin Toomey says: "This project will provide more support structures for professionals in the early years of their career.

"It is also a reflection of the closer relationship between Golf NZ and the Professional Golfers' Association."

Toomey said the recent Eisenhower Trophy result (New Zealand were fourth) was the best in 18 years but there is a "need to make sure those kind of players have the best possible chance of succeeding if and when they turn professional".