Amateur Kiwi golfer gets shot at US Masters

New Zealand’s No. 1-ranked amateur golfer has the opportunity to book a place in one of the most prestigious golf tournaments in the world – the US Masters.

Luke Toomey, 23, heads to Korea next week to play in the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship, with the winner awarded an automatic spot in the 2017 Masters.

Despite competing against some of the best in the world, the ambitious Toomey believes deep down he has a good chance.

“I’m feeling really good about it,” he said. “I believe I can do it and I’m confident.”

This will be Toomey’s fourth appearance at the Asia-Pacific Championships, coming off a sixth place finish at the World Amateur Team Championships in Cancun, Mexico last week. He came 17^th in the individual scoring.

He may not have won yet - but Toomey has a renewed sense of belief this time round.

“In the past I have gone there with more of a fantasy of winning,” he said.

“But now, this year, I think it’s slightly more real.

“I’ve proved to myself that I’ve got a real shot at competing alongside a world-class field.”

Toomey has been a breakout in the last 12 months.

He made headlines in July for setting the Tauranga Golf Club course record, when he hit an outstanding 58 on the 71-par course.

His coach, Jay Carter, has worked with him for the last three years and thinks his protégé’s work ethic has allowed him to rise to the top.

“He actually has a lot of good stuff underneath that natural ability,” Carter said.

“He craves that honest feedback. A lot of young guys don’t want to hear the honest stuff.

“He has good knowledge of what he’s trying to do, but he’s also in good shape, so that allows him to move the club without limitations.”

Toomey has a Tiger Woods-like background.

Before he even held a club, he was getting into his swing at the tender age of three.

“My parents would tee up plums on clothes pegs and I’d walk around with a stick and bash them off,” Toomey said.

“I would constantly nag dad to take me to Macca's - not so that I could eat cheeseburgers, but so I could play the mini-putt.”

New Zealand Golf’s high performance manager, Gregg Thorpe, saw this desire in Toomey when he was just 17.

Although he didn’t identify Toomey’s talent as particularly striking, he believes his development over the past seven years has been exceptional.

“He was relatively raw, and he’s come on a long way now to represent New Zealand at the highest level of amateur golf.

“He’s one of the few that is prepared to stick at it and keep nibbling away at it and rounding the sharp edges off his game.

“We’ve found the players that keep advancing are the ones who are prepared to do that.”

Toomey’s hoping he can carry his 12-month momentum into the Asia-Pacific Championships. If he can do this, he will be just one step closer to his dream.

“I want to win all four majors,” he said.

“Only five guys on the earth have ever achieved that, and I understand what my life might look like in order to achieve that, but I’m willing to do whatever it takes.”