Strong NZ team for Junior World Cup

By Neville Idour

Recent performances suggest the New Zealand Junior team of four boys and three girls to compete in Japan for the Junior Golf World Cup is well equipped to be a force to be reckoned with.

This is the first New Zealand team to go to the tournament since 2018 and will be held in Aichi, Japan. from June 20-23.

The teams, for under 19-year-olds, are packed with talent.

The boys are Cooper Moore (Clearwater, Christchurch), Robby Turnbull (Remuera, Auckland), Stephen Liu ( Royal Auckland), and Zack Swanwick (Napier).

Swanwick is only 17 but his recent win at the Australian Junior Amateur Championships was a standout. Starting the final round with a three shot buffer he controlled the field winning by four shots. This earned him a start at the Australian Open for professional later in the year.

Moore won the under 16 New Zealand title and has just completed winning his third Waitikiri senior club title.

Liu graduated from Yale University in the United States after excellent golf results in 2022. A win, a second and two top 10s were no mean feat. Turnbull also has some solid performances in recent times.

The girls’ team is- Fiona Xu (Titirangi, Auckland), Eunsio Choi (Takapuna, Auckland) and Vivian Lu (Royal Auckland).

Xu’s results in 2022 and this year are impressive with a win at the Australian Amateur in 2022 the best. This year she finished sixth.

Add to those efforts a third at the Asia-Pacific Amateur recently plus second in the Queen Sirikit Cup. Xu spearheaded New Zealand’s fifth placing at the Queen Sirikit Cup by finishing tied second on the individual table while Lu was 12th and Choi 32nd. Choi put in a sterling performance at the Australian Amateur, finishing second, so like the boys, the talent to compete is there.

National coach Jay Carter and talent development officer Liz McKinnon will travel with the team and McKinnon said: “We are looking forward to this opportunity for the players. This event provides a great test of golf against some of the world’s best young players. The Chukyo Club course will be challenging.’'