Matt Crawford and his younger sister, Abigael, are making the family proud as they line up in Otago teams at St Clair Golf Club this weekend.
It is rare for both the men’s and women’s representative teams to play at the same venue on the same weekend. It is even rarer for an Otago team to have members of one family in both the men’s and women’s teams.
But with Otago taking on Southland in a provincial teams event at St Clair it will be a chance for the teams to mingle. And for the Crawfords it will be an opportunity for the family to represent the province together.
Mark Crawford took Matt and his older brother, Liam, out to play the game when the kids were young and living in Balclutha.
Abigael, being the younger sister, did not want to miss out and tagged along.
"My dad took them every Sunday and I just wanted to go along. And it just went from there," she said.
"Our parents have always been really supportive and they like their golf, too."
Abigael (22) will play at No 3 in the eight-member women’s team, while Matt (24) will play at No 9 for the 10-man men’s team. They have both played for Otago before.
Mark and his wife, Lynda, are expected to play at St Clair this morning and spend the rest of the weekend watching their children play in the competition.
Older brother Luke (26) can not make it — he is the manager at The Golf Warehouse in Dunedin.
There is no real sibling rivalry on the course as they help each other out and try to improve.
Abigael is hitting off a six handicap after a spell away from the game last year for study and starting work.
Matt, an engineer, hits off scratch and is aiming for a good showing over the weekend.
The senior men's, masters men's, senior women's and junior sides will all be playing at St Clair.
Foursomes will start the competition this afternoon, with reverse singles tomorrow morning and singles tomorrow afternoon.
