Teenage golfer Kingston Taylor-Voyle is a step closer to his goal of playing professionally after qualifying for the NZ Open this year.
Taylor-Voyle has been swinging a golf club since the age of two and has been playing competitively since he was nine-years-old. Now, at 17, he’s set to tee off at the end of this month in Queenstown after winning the New Zealand Māori Golf Nationals in January.
“I’m definitely buzzing about that,” he said, “about being able to represent my township, [my] club, and just the Māori people – pretty honoured to be able to rep them.”
Hailing from Waitara, Taranaki, he’s a member of the Manukorihi Golf Club, and first represented the region at age 11. At 13 he qualified for the Junior World Champs to be held in the US, but then Covid hit.
Four years on, making the NZ Open means he gets to rub shoulders with some of the best in the game. Beyond that, he just hopes to make the cut.
“That’s so hard to do, so for me that’s winning. That’s like my goal for any tournament, yeah, to make the cut.”
He has no expectation to achieve “anything great” because of the level of golfers, he said, but he’s excited to be part of it.
“I’m just going to embrace that, embrace the moment, soak it all in.”
Taylor-Voyle has been playing golf since he could hit the ball, playing his first 18 holes while still a toddler.
“It all started with going out with dad at like a really young age, just started walking with him, running alongside the cart, or just pitch balls up and down the hole that he was playing.”
He was nine when he asked his dad if he could pick the game up for a year, and there was no going back from there, he said.
It’s a proud moment for dad Bruce Taylor, who says his son deserves the break, which has been a long time coming.
“He’s knocked on the door a couple of the times for a few things that he didn’t quite get across the line. Now’s his time to just enjoy the moment.”
And he’ll be alongside him for the ride.
“I did have to ask my son on the way home from [the NZ Māori Golf Nationals], ‘am I allowed to carry the bag son?’ And he said to me ‘it would be stupid if you didn’t, eh Dad?’”
Collective effort
He said it has been a collective effort to get his son to this point in his young career, especially when it comes to funding.
“We’re very fortunate that we have put in a lot of work, our community’s jumped on board and we’ve managed to come together as a whānau – everybody – and chip in, [to] make sure my son gets his opportunity.”
For his part, Taylor-Voyle has been working full-time at a traffic management company doing night shifts. It’s a job he enjoys doing and the hours suits him and his sport.
“Work’s good, love work. Way better than school. School never gave me a buzz. But work just opens up so much freedom to golf just cause I can take time off to play golf when I have to, or if I have to prep for a tournament I just take a couple of days off for a tournament.”
Asked if he was nervous about playing at the Open he said he doesn’t really “get nerves”, an assertion backed by his dad.
“It’s one of his inbuilt abilities, he has a lot of qualities that sets him aside from others and not being nervous is one of them.”
The young golfer said there’s no secret to his playing either. When it comes to his drives? “I kind of just wing it.” His putting game? “That sort of just comes naturally, it literally does. I barely even work on it.”
Teenage golfer Kingston Taylor-Voyle is one step closer to realising his golfing dream after qualifying for the NZ Open in Queenstown this month. (Source: Seven Sharp)
It may come across as boasting, but he’s self-aware enough to know his own abilities and where his potential lies.
“Honestly, I reckon I should be further than where I am to be honest, cause everybody drives me hard as, and I do put in the effort, but probably should put in a bit more.”
Instead, he has worked on keeping his head when it gets difficult.
“My mental toughness has gotten way better,” said Taylor-Voyle. “I used to be way too mentally hard on myself and it would just chew me up. So, [I’m] just more relaxed and stuff now.”
The 104th New Zealand Open will run from February 27 to March 2 at Millbrook Resort near Queenstown.