Cayden Ede competed in the New Zealand Open Charity Trust’s ‘‘Journey to the Open’’ series and won the opportunity to tee-off at the New Zealand Open, beginning today.
The 16-year-old said he was pretty excited to take part in the open and was blown away by winning the opportunity.
In the final event of the series, young golfers competed for the top three positions which gave them the opportunity to take part in a ‘‘nearest-to-the-pin’’ contest to win the opportunity to play in the pro-am section of New Zealand’s premier men’s golf tournament.
Cayden, who placed third, shot last in the competition, landing 10ft from the hole, clinching the tournament trophy and the spot at the NZ Open.
Despite the unpleasant weather, he found the final Journey to the Open event exciting, as so many young golfers had qualified for the opportunity to play for one spot at the open.
‘‘Everyone wanted to win it, it was just a challenge for everyone.’’
Golf has been a part of the teen’s for life as long as he could remember, but he only started playing seriously at 12 years old.
Many things attracted him to the sport, the randomness of the game where you could have a very good game one day and an awful one the next.
The discipline involved in the game was something he also enjoyed.
‘‘It's just a nice challenging game, so I can challenge myself to things I'm not usually used to.’’
Now in Dunedin and playing for the Otago Boys' High School golf team, he hoped to use his experience at the New Zealand Open to guide his future professional golfing career.
