Golf: Stacey rockets to NZ golf spot

By BOB PEARCE

Stacey Tate is not the youngest in the New Zealand women's team for the Commonwealth tournament at Remuera in November, but the 18-year-old has had a spectacular rise to the top in the past year.

The New Zealand selectors have named Tate (Huapai), 15-year-old Enu Chung (Auckland), 20-year-old Penny Newbrook (Springfield, Rotorua), 18-year-old Sarah Nicholson (Hutt) and 16-year-old Jenny Park (Otago) in what must be one of the youngest senior teams in golfing history.

Chung, Newbrook and Nicholson have already been senior representatives and Park is in the Women's Golf high-performance squad.

But Tate has forced her way into the team with a run of recent good form in trials for the team.

She has been playing the game for five years and quickly got down to a single-figure handicap.

But, by her own admission, she was only on the fringe of representative honours until she did a certificate in athletic development at Unitec.

"It was really great," she said. "I had coaching three times a week from my coach, Zaine Mikkelson, and I learned to trust my swing.

"The other thing that improved was my mental attitude and how I handled myself on the course."

New Zealand last hosted the Commonwealth tournament in Christchurch in 1987. They have never won, finishing runners-up three times in succession: to Australia in 1983, Canada in 1987 and Britain in 1991.

They were fourth at the last tournament, in Canada, where Australia recorded their second win in a row. South Africa are the fifth team.

The tournament follows a round-robin format with two foursomes in the morning and four singles in the afternoon. Team ranking will be done on the day.