Young duo on duty for Otago
THE young — and we mean young — are leading the charge for Otago in women’s golf.
A couple of Queenstownbased players will head the Otago side which will travel to Ashburton this weekend for the South Island provincial championships.
Sumin Kang (15) will lead at No 1 while Yoonae Jeong (12) will be at No 2.
Kang came to Queenstown in 2011 and has been playing for more than five years. She has made some rapid advances in her game and this will be her fourth year in the Otago team. She first played in 2017 and was No 1 last year for Otago at the national provincial championships in Hawke’s Bay, where the side finished ninth.
Kang is a year 10 pupil at Wakatipu High School and is coached by Ben Gallie at Millbrook. She hopes to keep playing golf through her teenage years with the aim of getting a college scholarship in the United States. She is a member at Jack’s Point but plays on different courses throughout Queenstown.
Kang, who is Korean, practises most days and plays off a plus one handicap. She has impressed over the past few months, competing on Charles Tour events and won the Otago under19 championships back in March, winning by eight shots in a field which included male players.
Jeong is a year 7 pupil at Queenstown Primary School. She came to Queenstown also from Korea about three and ahalf years ago, and that is when she started the game.
A quick learner, she is on a five handicap and is also coached by Gallie.
She is working on increasing the length in her shots but is making some real advances in her game and is keen to make an impact.
The duo teamed up at the top of the Otago eightwomen’s team in a match against Southland last month and won all their matches as pairs and then playing in single matches.
The Otago team includes a couple of newcomers with Kathryn Baker, of Taieri, having played in the Aorangi team and Imelda Marnane, now of Alexandra, having played in Waikato.
Otago will face Aorangi, Tasman and Canterbury this weekend.
Southland is not fielding a team.
Queenstown golfer Danielle Bailey, who has been in the Otago team for the past couple of years, is unavailable for this tournament.
The men will also play in a South Island provincial tournament though they will not have to travel, playing throughout the weekend at St Clair.
Southland, Otago, Aorangi, Canterbury and Tasman are lining up.
Otago won the tournament last year.