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Blake Windred intends to farewell his Junior golf days with a strong performance in the Aaron Baddeley International at La Costa Golf Club in San Diego which begins next week.
He flies out for the United States tomorrow with fellow NSW competitor Celina Yuan.
“I’m very excited, I’ve never been to the US before, I can’t wait,” Windred Says. “Travis Smyth has been giving me a few tips on what to expect over there.”
Windred, the current Australian Golf Club Champion, earned his place in the event courtesy of his whopping 13 shot win in the Srixon Junior International at Cessnock back in October.
“I’m feeling pretty confident; I’ve been practicing very hard working a bit on my swing.”
“As soon as I get to San Diego I’ll get the competitive mindset going and all I’ll be thinking about is getting the ball in the hole to win.”
“If I get myself in contention anything could happen,' he says.
Windred has had quite a bit of time to work on his golf lately. With his HSC exams out of the way, he even managed a game in the Australian Open Pro-Am with Nicolas Colsaerts last week.
“Playing with Nicolas was awesome. I learnt so much about holding yourself, and we talked about the pressure of playing in the Ryder Cup.”
As for the HSC, Windred is relieved the exams are done and dusted.
“It’s safe to say I’m not going to become a doctor or anything, I’m glad its over,” he laughs.
The Baddeley international may well be the final event of Windred’s Junior career, however it’s also the beginning of a very busy summer of golf for the young star. The Master of the Amateurs, the Australian Amateur, the Lake Macquarie International and the NSW Amateur are all in his schedule beginning early next year.
“I’ve got a big summer coming up – it’s set up perfect for me to go out and impress,” he says. “I really need to improve my amateur ranking, I hope to travel a lot more and get into the major amateur events like the US and British Amateurs.”
Today however, Windred has his 18th birthday to celebrate.
I’m having Pizza and a birthday cake tonight as a farewell – I can’t wait.”