Echuca College student excels on the green at School Sport Championships

Whyte was selected to represent Team Victoria in the week-long championship competition in Canberra from Monday, August 19, to Friday, August 23.

Throughout the program, the golfers played 36 holes every day across all four competition days, with the individual stroke play event occurring on the first day of the competition.

The remaining three days of golf were match play, where six players in each state team played against each other in a round-robin competition.

Whyte shot three over on the first 18 holes on Tuesday, following up with three under on the second 18 to finish even.

This effort placed him ninth overall in the gross event and second in the nett event, where he received a silver medal for his efforts. He also tallied the best score for Team Victoria Boys on the first day.

Whyte lost his matches against Queensland and NSW on Tuesday in the match play.

He then found form and beat WA, SA and ACT in the remaining two days of competition.

Whyte won the highest points in match play within the Team Victoria Boys’ squad, which finished fourth.

Taking a break from competition on Wednesday, Whyte and the other players had a tour of the Australian Institute of Sport. They had a player development session and a Q&A with PGA Golf professional Brendan Jones.

Whyte highlighted his experience playing in the championships and how thrilled he was to face off against the highest calibre of players in his age group in Australia.

“It was a good challenge of golf; you’ve got the elite players that are still in school from all of the states and territories, so it was a high level of play, so you had to be on your game,” he said.

“I felt I played well during the week, and all the other boys in the Vic team played really well at such a high level; it just proved that you have to play almost perfectly to win.”

Whyte emphasised the small margin for error in high-level competitions and how that has spurred him on to not only train for in-game situations but learn from his teammates.

“There is very little room for error in a competition like that, which was a big learning curve,” he said.

“It was a realisation of what level I should be working towards; you find out your weaknesses pretty quickly, and you see what other guys are doing and what you aren’t.

“You pick up little things through talking to teammates, I found I learnt the most from them, we spent the majority of our time there together, so you end up tweaking little parts of your game.

“Learning from the experience, I think moving forward, I need to do a lot more game-style practice; I focus mainly on technique training.

“It’s the best way to learn is through those in-game situations.”

Whyte wanted to thank his sponsors and trainers for aiding in his preparation and participation in the tournament.

“I have been attending the Golf Australia Tier 4 program at Sandringham Golf Links and would like to thank the team for the opportunity to train with them once a month,” he said.

“I’d like to thank my awesome golf coach, Ben Patten. He has been my coach for many years now, and I really value his expertise and mentorship.

“I also wanted to thank my sponsors; I wouldn't have been able to attend the event without the help of Rich River Golf Club, Goulburn Murray Golf Association, Moama Bowling Club, Taripta Farm, Ivyhurst Dairy and my trivia teammates.”