Smith keen to tackle nation’s best
Arguably one of the best junior golfers from Cairns is heading to his biggest challenge to date.
Couper Smith, a soon-to-be 17-year-old golfing prodigy will take on the best junior golfers in Australia at the Australian Junior Amateurs in Hobart.
Smith said this is the next step to taking his golfing career to the next level.
“A total of 78 boys are in the field and you have to qualify to make it into the field,” Smith said.
“You have to have a handicap lower than four to make it and I am currently hitting off plus 1.5.
“The first two days we will be playing it out to make the cut and if you make the cut you make it into the final day.
“Hopefully I can make the final day and give myself the chance to place really well.”
First picking up a golf club when he was three, Couper watched his older brother Wade play golf and saw just how much fun he and his friends and family were having playing the sport.
“He was a pretty good golfer Wade, but I think I may have over taken him in recent years,” Smith joked. “I used to watch them when I was about three and saw how much they really enjoyed playing it.
“So I decided to have a go and had a lot of fun and yeah the rest is history.”
The gun golfer has played in a number of different tournaments including the Greg Norman Junior Masters, the World Stars of Junior Golf for the 10 and under's and the Junior Olympics in America.
Surprisingly, playing in the Junior Olympics is not what Couper sees as his biggest achievement. “Getting my handicap to where it is now would have to be my biggest achievement so far,” Smith said. “To get it below scratch (zero) is really good and I am playing off plus 1.5 now so that is a huge achievement.
“Not a lot of people can do it so I pretty proud to be able to do it and to qualify in these big tournaments and go to America and overseas.”
Heading into his final year of high school, Couper is looking to head to America where he can apply at golfing colleges and take further steps in his golf career.
“Coming from a small city like Cairns, we don’t get noticed as much as the people do down south,” Smith said.
“So I hope I can continue to do well, secure a scholarship and make my family proud.”
The Australian Junior Amateurs in Hobart runs from April 11 to 14.