Golf: Hoskin eager to lead

Laura Hoskin
Laura Hoskin
Laura Hoskin, the Otago women's No 1, is looking forward to playing in her fourth interprovincial tournament when she tees off in the first round at St Clair on Tuesday.

Hoskin (17) made her debut at No 5 four years ago, as a year 9 pupil at St Hilda's Collegiate School and she played at No 4 the following year.

Last year, she was promoted to the No 1 position and has retained that position this year.

Already, she has shown she can compete with the best, beating former professional Catherine Knight in last year's tournament.

In the recent South Island interprovincial tournament she emerged unbeaten with wins over Robyn Pullar (Southland) and Catherine Bell (Aorangi), while she halved with Emily Stenhouse (Tasman) and Sylvia Williams (Canterbury).

Hoskin is dedicated to the game and can be seen on the Balmacewen practice fairway every day after school.

''I sat down and worked out that I have been up to Balmacewen at least 800 times during my time at St Hilda's,'' she said.

But this will come to an end next year as Otago's top prospect is moving back to Arrowtown and will undertake year 13 studies by correspondence.

''This will mean that I will be closer to John Griffin, my coach, and will allow me to play a lot of the testing courses in Queenstown.''

Although this tournament will be valuable experience for the talented youngster, she has plenty to look forward to in the New Year.

Hoskin has been selected along with three other players to compete in the Australian Youth Olympic Festival in Sydney in January.

 

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