Hamish Ellison is confident that his game is in good order heading into the Jack Newton International Junior Classic at Cypress Lakes - it's going to need to be.
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Ellison was in the NSW All Schools team and play off a plus-one handicap at Belmont, where he was a runaway winner of the A-grade club championship last weekend.
On Tuesday, he will be one of more than 100 players - half the field - with a handicap of scratch or better in the 15-17 years division.
"The depth of the field this year is incredible," Jack Newton Junior Golf tournament manager Dale Hughes said. "When I went through the numbers looking at averages, I was shocked. It is literally like finding a needle in a haystack, which one of those kids will have a good week."
Ellison's NSW Schoolboys teammate Jeffrey Guan, who won the stroke event at the nationals, NSW Golf state team members Lachlan Jones and Harrison Crowe along with players from Queensland, Canada, Hawaii, Japan, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Samoa, South Africa and South Korea are competing in the 72-hole championships.
"I have a fair bit of confidence heading into the week," Ellison said. "I have played the course a few times and have been practicing hard. My short game needs to be good and obviously you need to putt well."
Ellison played seven rounds in four days at the Australian Schools Champions and was second in the 15 years division, behind Toronto's Jake Dundas, at the NSW age championships in June, which was also played over 72 holes.
"I learned a lot from both of those tournaments," he said. "This week is going to be a real test on that course. You have to try and hit fairways and greens and stay in the game. You are going to have bad holes, but you have to keep going."
As well as Ellison and Dundas, Josh Fuller (The Vintage) Harry Cleare (Nelson Bay) Caleb Bromley (Waratah), Dylan Day, Max Duffy-Smith (Belmont), Owen Evans (Singleton) and Zac Mitchell (Cypress Lakes) are part of a strong Hunter contingent.
Queensland gun Hyejun Park (Royal Pines) heads the girls field, which includes Kiana Toole (Belmont) and Jasmine Vesper (Singleton).
"Hyejun has won everything she has played in for the past 12 months," Hughes said. "She has won the NSW Junior twice, she is the current Queensland junior champion and Australian junior champion."
Newcastle's Brij Ingrey, fresh from winning the Nelson Bay junior open, Jake Riley (Toronto) and Harry Atkinson (Kurri Kurri) head the local contenders in the Sub Junior Classic (10-14 years) being held at Crowne Plaza Hunter Valley.
The International, the brainchild ofJNJG founder Jack Newton, was first held in 1986 and winners include Aaron Baddeley Steven Bowditch, Andrew Dodt, Ryan Ruffels, Minjee Lee, Su-Hyun Oh and Thidipa Suwannapura.
In total, 40 internationals and 102 interstate competitors will join the 230 NSW and ACT juniors in the field, with more girls taking part than ever before.
"The classic is an important stepping stone for many of Australia's young golfers," Newton said. "This event has been pivotal in founding the careers of Australia's well-known international golfing stars providing them with a platform to make a successful transition into the senior ranks."
