Date: April 14, 2010
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Tasmania prepares for junior champions

Further Information – Australian Girls&apos Amateur Championship Further Information – Australian Boys&apos Amateur Championship Australia&aposs finest junior male and female golfers will converge on Tasmania this week in preparation for Wednesday&aposs opening round of both the Australian Boys&apos and Australian Girls&apos Amateur Championships held at Launceston and Ulverstone Golf Clubs respectively. Queensland&aposs Cameron Smith is likely to be a warm favourite in the southern isle but will be met with stiff competition from a host of the nation&aposs most talent young golfers including 16 year old NSW rising star Jake Higginbottom, SA&aposs Anthony Murdaca, Victoria&aposs Sean Ong and Daniel Yu from NSW. History bodes well for Smith with Queenslanders having won seven of the last eight installments of the Boys&apos Amateur Championships. If successful, Smith would join former Queensland champions including PGA Tour players Jason Day and Australian Open champion Adam Scott in a championship where names including Appleby, Allenby and O&aposMalley adorn the honour roll. In the Girls&apos Championship, Korean Su-Hyun Oh and West Australian Jayde Panos remain the names on many people&aposs lips with a chance of success on the eucalypt-lined fairways at Ulverstone. Oh, who created international headlines in 2009 when she qualified for the Women&aposs Australian Open at the age of 12, will look to win her first Australian Girls&apos Amateur title. Hot on their heels will be Queensland&aposs Emily McLennan, New South Wales&apos Carly Beck and Korean Annie Choi. The Girls&apos Amateur championship has an equally illustrious history with past champions including LPGA Tour players Sarah Kemp, Sarah-Jane Smith and Tamie Durdin among the winners. The Boys&apos Amateur championship was last held in Tasmania in 2003 when Queenslander Tom Davis emerged victorious while it was 2007 when Haeji Kang finished at 8-under par to win the Girls&apos title, also held at Ulverstone.