Sport
8 December, 2022
A round to remember for Nalder
Young golfer Josh Nalder enjoyed the round of a lifetime on Friday afternoon in Gisborne, with the Maryborough golfer winning the State Schools Victoria primary school state final. Twelve-year-old Nalder was one of just two golfers to score under 70...
Young golfer Josh Nalder enjoyed the round of a lifetime on Friday afternoon in Gisborne, with the Maryborough golfer winning the State Schools Victoria primary school state final.
Twelve-year-old Nalder was one of just two golfers to score under 70 for the round throughout the competition, and finished with five birdies and two eagles to finish with a score of 66, which was enough to see him win by two strokes.
Josh said he enjoyed the course, and kept the preparation for the event simple.
“The Gisborne course was a good course. I enjoyed it. I’ve spent time on the range, hitting heaps of balls,” he said.
He was able to score two medals for his efforts on Friday, while he was also able to score a golf bag from Titleist as part of his victory in the championships.
“The two medals I have come from the Loddon-Mallee region and the state championship, which I got on Friday,” Josh said.
Off the back of his victory, Josh feels that he is one step closer to some goals that he has in mind for the future.
“I would love to go on the PGA tour in the future. A grade here (at the Maryborough Golf Club) would be good as well,” he said.
Father, Dean, said that he was able to enjoy seeing his son play a special round of golf, particularly given he was his caddy last Friday afternoon.
“I was the caddy for him, just pushing the bags, but he played really well. He got to seven under at one stage. It’s a shortened course, as it’s a primary school event, but the par fours are still 220 metres, the par fives are 300 metres and the par threes are 100 metre holes,” he said.
“He plays off a 15 handicap at Maryborough, and he’s been playing for a number of years, so he’s starting to get a little bit serious now.
“We had to play a qualifying event about three weeks ago, which saw the top five players picked from each region.
“We played in the Mallee region, at Neangar Park in Bendigo, which he won, and that put him through to the state final. All the regional winners then went to Gisborne on the Friday, so kids from different schools around Victoria were at the event.”
Dean said that he was surprised with the way he played, given the quality of the field, but his result made the win all the more exciting.
“He had five birdies, two eagles, but he hit it pretty straight all day and putted really well too. It was a special day in terms of getting into his best form, which was definitely exciting,” he said.
“I was surprised with the way he played, I thought that if he had scored 75 or just over par, I thought he would be going well, given the field that was there. But he got on a roll on Friday and just kept scoring birdies and eagles and it was special to watch.”
Despite Josh’s young age, he is already seen as a veteran of the Maryborough Golf Club, playing as part of their junior program, while also regularly playing alongside Dean. In 2020, Josh was able to hit his first-ever eagle.
“He plays off a 15 handicap at Maryborough, and he’s been playing for a number of years, so he’s starting to get a little bit serious now,” Dean said.
“It’s good. We go off on a Saturday, and we play in the men’s competition at the golf club, and he also plays in the junior pennant for Maryborough, in which a couple of us look after that team, but he’s going really well.
“It’s something we can put time into together and watch him grow, so long as he continues to get bigger and stronger every year.
“He plays with different guys down at Maryborough. Everyone knows that he is only 12, but he is heading in the right direction. Golf is a sport you can play for your whole life, he picked it up early and he stuck at it, and now he is starting to really understand what goes on with it. With COVID in 2020, we couldn’t play any events, and in 2021 we didn’t have too many, but this year, being in grade six, we made sure that he practiced, qualified and ended up getting into the state final.”
Those same people that both Josh and Dean play with were the most invested in Josh’s achievements on Friday, keeping track of the scorecard and sending Dean messages of support.
“I was getting a few messages from people that I play with on Friday, just support from people telling me how well he was playing,” Dean said.