Slater chosen

Press, 8 March 1989, Page 35

Slater chosen

A sixth former at St Thomas of Canterbury College, Nigel Slater, is one of four junior golfers selected to compete in the Jack Newton Junior Golf Foundation international classic in Sydney at Easter. Slater, aged 16, will be joined by Jason Whiley, aged 14, from Palmerston North, Joanne Ash, aged 17, from Whangarei, and Gina Scott, aged 15, from Otorohanga, in the 54-hole event at the Cessnock Country Club, in the Hunter Valley, north of Sydney. The trip has been made possible through funding from the New Zealand Eagles Golfing Society which has met the airfares for the team. It is believed that it is the first New Zealand junior mixed golf team to play overseas. Opposition will come from the Australian states and Asian teams.

The New Zealand Golf Foundation’s coaching director, Murray Macklin, who will be the team’s managercoach, said that the main aim of having a team in the event was to provide international competition’ for junior golfers with potential although slightly below the best national junior level. Slater started playing golf when aged 12 and has reduced his handicap from 36 to six. A member of the Russley junior inter-club team in recent years he won the 1987 junior club championship and last year he won the Canterbury under--17 title at Weedons when aged 15. Slater, who intends pursuing golf as a career, either as a playing or coaching professional, is the captain of his school’s golf team and has played in the Canterbury inter-secondary schools’ tournament for the last three years.