European Tour winner added to Chasing The Fox field

By Will Toogood

It says a lot about the state of professional golf in New Zealand that TAB Chasing the Fox can lose a top drawcard competitor and replace him with arguably a bigger pull.

YouTube creator and pro golfer Luke Kwon has had to pull out of the event due to a scheduling conflict but promoters have secured Kiwi DP Tour winner Daniel Hillier to set up a showdown with Ryan Fox between two of the country’s top golfers.

Fresh off a T23 performance in a high-quality field at the Australian Open, Hillier brings an edge that only a player ranked in the top 250 in the world can and punters will be treated to a rare live battle between him and Fox at Royal Auckland and Grange Golf Club.

One of the stories of last year’s event was Bay of Plenty prodigy Bayleigh Teepa-Tarau, who shot to national fame by winning a national Aims Games title having played just three rounds of golf previously and aged just 12.

Fox reached out to Bayleigh and asked the youngster to carry his bag at Chasing the Fox, creating a lifelong memory for the aspiring golfer.

One year on and Bayleigh’s Tāneatua School has taken to the sport with vigour, with golf coach Te Whetū Wiremu telling the Herald he has 20 keen players all keen to get into the sport.

Wiremu says the invitation to attend this year’s Chasing the Fox event is a chance for his students to have an experience that often passes them by in Tāneatua.

“Coming from a small area where we come from we don’t get many opportunities like that, so the opportunity itself I’m happy for my kids to just go and enjoy it.”

Watching top golfers and personalities in a competitive environment last year gave the kids an extra layer of motivation to give golf a real go, he says.

“Seeing the competitiveness, it made them want to be better golfers so hopefully one day they could be in that same space as well.”

Adding to the competitive environment is the news from promoters that crowds are expected to exceed 2000 at this year’s event – and that Fox Sports in Australia will be picking up the broadcast and showcase New Zealand golf to the Australian market.

Competition teams are taking final shape, with Red Bull pulling out the stops and adding All Black Shaun Stevenson to their team to accompany mountain biker Brook MacDonald and Kiwi amateur golfer Jayden Ford.

TAB Chasing The Fox
Location: Royal Auckland and Grange Golf Club
Date: December 13
Time: Gates open 2pm, golf begins 5pm
Teams Field: Ryan Fox, Dan Hillier, Taco Golf, Mac Boucher, Rugby, Cricket, NZ Warriors, Olympians, media, politicians and more.
How to watch: TVNZ 1, 7pm

This article was first published on nzherald.co.nz and is republished here with permission