“I’m a little nervous,” Barnaby said before taking his first shot.
“But I’m also extremely excited.”
Patch Stafford, 10, and Cooper Moore.
Barnaby has only been playing golf for about five months, but he’s since fallen in love with the game.
“I like the sweet sensation of hitting the ball right, getting a perfect straight drive, or the perfect hit with a pitching wedge or a four or nine iron.”
On September 23, Barnaby got the chance to learn from a professional who has claimed back-to-back victories on the very course they were about to play.
“It just feels like an honour to get to play with a pro,” Barnaby said.
“It was really exciting because it was Ambrose, which meant we could take his shots.”
Held at the Tauranga Golf Club, the Carrus Junior Pro-am gives junior golfers the chance to play with some of the country’s top professionals and a glimpse into the intensity and joy of competitive golf.
The Clubroom Tauranga director Hayden Beard said there were 11 teams of four to five young golfers registered for this year’s junior pro-am and 12 golf pros.
“It was a great turnout despite the weather, which is awesome. It’s great to see an increase in young golfers enjoying the game,” Beard said.
“Our junior golf programme is continuing to grow and this is a neat opportunity for them to see how the game stacks up playing alongside New Zealand’s best golfers.”
The pro-am is a curtain-raiser to the Carrus Tauranga Open, in which 129 professional and elite amateurs tee off this week as part of the Jennian Homes Charles Tour.
New Zealand golf professional Josh Geary. Photo / Zach Quin
On a nearby hole, 10-year-old Patch Stafford was also beaming at the chance to play alongside one of his idols.
The Hawke’s Bay junior golfer was playing alongside Cooper Moore, who last week won his first title at the Christies Floorings Mount Open.
“I’ve met him once before at a tournament,” Patch said.
“He’s my idol.”
Hoping to one day become a golf professional himself, Patch practices twice a week and plays in as many tournaments as he can.
He said the Carrus Junior Pro-am was his warm-up for the Taupō Junior Mini Masters next week.
Fresh from winning his first title on New Zealand’s Charles Tour, 17-year-old Moore remembered playing in junior pro-ams and said he was happy to be giving back.
“I had my fair few chances of playing junior pro-am and I always loved those chances, so if I can provide a good experience for these guys, it’s pretty cool.”
His tips for the juniors was to “just enjoy it” and “have fun”.
Carrus general manager Scott Adams said the company had sponsored the Tauranga Open tournament for the last 19 years and supporting its first junior pro-am this year was a natural next step.
“It’s a good initiative for Carrus to start backing some of our young players coming through,” he said.
“It’s a great experience and hopefully they will be able to draw a bit of inspiration from some of the pros and, who knows, the pros might draw some inspiration from some of the juniors.”
He wished good luck to all of the pros playing in the 2025 Carrus Tauranga Open this week.
– Content supplied by The Clubroom Tauranga and Tauranga Golf Club for the Carrus Junior Pro-Am.