Silvia Brunotti adds to record of 14-year-olds in NZ Amateur

Silvia Brunotti of Auckland, winner of the New Zealand Amateur at age 14. PHOTO: BW Media.

If you needed proof that the age of top performers in golf are getting younger you only needed to look at the women’s final of the New Zealand Amateur Championship.
The final at the Russley Golf Club in Christchurch last month saw Silvia Brunotti beat defending champion Rose Zheng.
Brunotti was aged 14 while Zheng was the same age when she won the same tournament the previous year. It was also the same age when Lydia Ko won the tournament in 2011.
Brunotti gained the lead over Zheng after the fourth of 36 holes and it was a lead she never relinquished, going on to score by 7 and 6.
The comparision to Ko was unavoidable.
“I want to be like Lydia,” Brunotti said afterwards.
“I’m over the moon, I know it doesn’t look like it, but I am.
“I don’t know how to explain the feeling, it’s so unreal and I didn’t think I would get this far.”
Brunotti, from Auckland, had a close call in round two of the matchplay. She won the last four holes to win one up against Fuukha Higashi.
Brunotti had scored easy wins in her quarter- and semi-final matches which boosted her confidence for the final.
“I’m not even nervous,” Brunotti said after her semi-final win.
“It’s just so exciting, I never get nervous until maybe the very last putt.
“It’s going to be a good game, but this is definitely my biggest game ever. I have been working hard every day after school because I just want to be a better player. I didn’t expect to go this far.”