One new member for NZ team at junior world cup

New Zealand will have a relatively experienced team for the Junior Golf World Cup in Japan this month.
There is only one change from the team that competed at the same event last year with in-form Tom Park to join the team of four.
The other three are Daniel Hillier (Wellington), Henry Spring (Bay of Plenty) and Inia Logan (Otago) who represented New Zealand at last year’s Junior Golf World Cup which was held at the same venue of Chukyo Golf Club.
This year’s event, sponsored by Toyota, begins on June 13. It is a strokeplay event over four days with the top three scores contributing to the team’s tally.
Last year New Zealand finished equal ninth in a field of 15 countries.
So far this year France, Germany, Denmark, Italy, Korea, Japan, Thailand and the USA have qualified to compete with several more countries from South America, North America and Africa to be confirmed.
At last year’s event USA ended up as a dominant winner by nine shots on a team total of 36 under par. The Kiwis were slow to start and improved each day. This time round the Kiwis will be looking to utilise that experience.
The week begins with a cultural exchange, highlighting one of the key purposes for the event, which is to bring the competing nations together and to learn more about the Japanese culture.
The competitive element of the tournament gets underway with a long drive competition after the first practice round, again bringing all of the competitors together to further forge their international relationships, in the spirit of event.
New Zealand qualified through winning the Claire Higson Trophy in 2016. The qualification for the 2018 Toyota Junior Golf World Cup will take place during the New Zealand Age Group Championships this September, where both the Australian boys and girls teams will take on their New Zealand counterparts.