Chrisjan Senekal of Ashburton is on the right path to becoming a professional golfer after being selected to play in the Under 17 Eagles Boys and Girls Championship in Cromwell this weekend.
The 14-year-old Ashburton College student is in a team of three representing the Aorangi region, alongside Thomas Clayson from Geraldine District Golf Club and Charlotte Low from Pleasant Point Golf Club.
The annual national Eagles junior championships has a proud history of previous winners going on to golf careers.
They include Michael Campbell in 1986 who went on to win the US Open in 2005.
The three-day championship begins in Cromwell today.
Chrisjan has golf in his blood. Growing up in South Africa, he began playing at the age of two with his dad. They did not have to go far for a game, the family lived on a golf course.
But Chrisjan did not stick with golf, moving on to rugby as young child.
In 2020, his family emigrated to New Zealand. About two years later, Chrisjan was encouraged back to the game through a friend at school.
‘‘I love it,’’ Chrisjan said.
‘‘My friends do it, and I guess it’s a good social game,’’ he said.
‘‘You can always just come out with your friends and have a hit.’’
Chrisjan has a handicap of five. He is confident of playing well at the upcoming tournament, after shooting three over and five over at a 36-hole Canterbury versus Aorangi match play tournament last month.
He plans to be a professional golfer, something he thinks he can pursue while studying either agriculture or engineering at university. His idol is Tiger Woods. ‘‘He played really good, just dominated the game,’’ Chrisjan said.
On the golf course in South Africa, there had been wild animals, including wilderbeest, impalas and zebras.
While New Zealand courses may not compare in terms of wildlife, Chrisjan was nonetheless impressed. ‘‘They are very nice, a lot of them are very pretty,’’ he said.
Eagles Golfing Society of New Zealand secretary Jeff Williamson said the Aorangi members were expected to perform well at the tournament, which would include team and individual events. The three were all talented golfers, the lowest handicap index among them being Thomas’s, which was 0.3. ‘‘They are playing against the very, very top, top juniors from around the country, it will be tough work,’’ Williamson said.
