BROCK Sampson hopes to organise more rounds of golf for his five-member NIAS squad this time around.
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The young Tamworth professional is in charge of the Tamworth Golf Club-sponsored NIAS Golf squad again and is using past experience to find the right program for his talented young group.
This season’s squad has just five members.
Walcha’s Andrew Brennan, Tenterfield James Shaw and Tamworth trio Jock McPherson, Tom Gill and Ethan Weir make up the squad.
Weir is debuting, the 13-year-old a Year 7 student at Oxley High in Tamworth and playing off a handicap of 18.
He has been playing for around 10 years “since I was three”.
In contrast, McPherson, a 16-year-old Year 10 student at Peel High in Tamworth, plays off a handicap of five and is in his third year with the squad.
“It’s been pretty good for me,” he said.
Brennan has had an even longer stint in the NIAS squad.
“This is my fifth year,” he said at last Saturday’s initial clinic of the new program.
“It’s been great for me. I’ve met a lot of new friends and got to play some good golf.”
A member at both Walcha and the Longyard clubs, he does play “a fair bit in Tamworth”.
He’s also “nearly finished school” and hopes to find a job in golf, coaching or even head to the USA to college.
It’s an exciting time for the 17-year-old.
Gill, 16, is in an exciting time.
The Farrer Year 10 student plays off a handicap of two and was the golfer of the year for NIAS.
He’s entering his third year in the NIAS squad and will benefit greatly from Sampson’s decision to play “a bit more golf”.
“I want to play a bit more golf this year,” he said of the new NIAS season.
“I want to try to play a few more games at other courses like The Longyard and Armidale.
“We will have a similar format to last year as well. We played the Peter O’Malley Junior Masters in Bathurst and the Academy Games on the Central Coast. We Played Kooinda Waters and Magenta Shores.”
Depending on which one of the squad you listened to, they were either very “unforgiving or easy tracks”.
Tenterfield’s James Shaw is also part of the NIAS squad.
“He plays off a handicap of three I think,” Sampson said.
“He couldn’t make today as he was playing in the Tenterfield Open.”
