Third club championship win for 14-year-old

Caption: Cooper Moore with his trophy after winning the senior club championship at the Waitikiri Golf Club in Christchurch for the third time at age of 14. Cooper has also been selected to represent New Zealand in a world under-19 tournament in Japan next month.

Third club championship win for 14-year-old

Cooper Moore completed a rare feat in winning the senior club championship at the Waitikiri Golf Club in Christchurch for the third time at the age of just 14. 

While the statistic of three in succession may not be rare, to win it in fields including Canterbury representatives at the ages of 12, 13 and 14 is. 

When he first won he was the youngest player to have won the trophy since it's inception in 1939.

The championship began with two qualifying rounds where Moore shot 67 then a course record equaling 64 to be the top seed for the 16 player knockout matchplay.

He comfortably won his first two matches before being fully tested in the semi-final. Moore eventually prevailed 2 and 1 against Canterbury masters representative Brett Turner.

The final was a 36-hole affair and Moore’s opponent was Canterbury masters No 1 Woo Bong Kim. 

A consistent first 18 holes saw Moore four up and four under par. In the afternoon they halved the first two holes before Moore had a great up and down to win the third hole. 

Then a birdie on No 4  saw the lead jump out to six up. After that Moore played very smart golf concentrating on good course management, playing for position to allow him to hit greens in regulation. This forced Kim to make birdies to win holes. The task was beyond him and Moore won 5 and 4 for a special win.

His form certainly confirms his selection for the under-19 New Zealand  team for the  Junior World Cup in Japan from June 20-23.