Juniors star in state championships

Keperra Country Golf Club juniors, who are part of the club’s development program, have made a flying start to 2022.

Last month, Wesley Hinton pictured above in centre, won the Queensland's Men's Foursomes Championship for amateurs, alongside playing partner Alfie Ward from Maroochy River.

The pair shot even par over two rounds at Wynnum to win by two shots.

Hinton’s victory came after a fine January at the Junior Golf Queensland Summer Classic at Mount Coolum where he was Gross Runner Up in Boy's Division 1.

Fellow Keperra junior Jack Jones took the Gross Runner Up in the Boy's Division 2 category.

January saw two-time Keperra Ladies Club Champion Caitlin Vanderkruk win the Bribie Island Junior Open championship for girls, with an excellent sub-par round of 72.

The win qualified Vanderkruk for The Invincibles 2022 IGA Sunshine Coast Junior Masters Championship to be held in September.

Vanderkruk has her sights set on the American College system, a path that fellow Keperra club member Emily Mahar has taken.

Mahar moved to the US and studied first at girls’ golf powerhouse Xavier College Preparatory in Phoenix and now Virginia Tech.

She made her professional tournament debut in June last year after qualifying for the 76th US Women’s Open in California, the biggest women’s tournament in the world and this year made her first appearance in the Augusta National Women’s Amateur.

Ranked at 45 in the world amateur rankings, she was a late call-up to join the 72-strong Augusta field and missed the cut for the final round by only two shots.

But there was a huge bonus. After the lifting of international travel restrictions her parents James and Katie were able to jump on a plane to the US to see her in action.

It was the first time in more than two years since the pandemic began that Emily was able to see her family.