![NEWCOMER: Will Aitken started playing golf about 12 months ago when most other sports were cancelled due to covid. Photo: Ben Jaffrey NEWCOMER: Will Aitken started playing golf about 12 months ago when most other sports were cancelled due to covid. Photo: Ben Jaffrey](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/JJAXMCtTuAnFPeUKCfF8jc/67e464d6-0de2-47b5-9666-a95e33ea5282.JPG/r0_160_6000_4000_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Will Aitken has come a long way since taking up golf last year.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
The 17-year-old started playing when covid forced the cancellation of most other sports.
Aitken said he enjoyed golf straight away even though it's "a difficult sport".
In 12 months of playing, Aitken has taken his handicap from "40-something" to 16.
It was even a bit lower than that at one point and he hopes to keep hammering it down.
"I was hoping single digits by the end of the year but that's not going to happen so single digits by, maybe, mid-next year," Aitken said of his goal.
Aitken also wants to work on his long woods to get rid of his "shank".
He'll have the help of Northern Inland Academy of Sport coaches as part of the golf program squad.
![SESSION: NIAS golfers get some irons practice in on the weekend. Photo: Ben Jaffrey SESSION: NIAS golfers get some irons practice in on the weekend. Photo: Ben Jaffrey](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/JJAXMCtTuAnFPeUKCfF8jc/4bf415c7-d9d9-4ff1-b9dd-5c1921b46435.JPG/r0_0_6000_3387_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
They've had a couple sessions now and Aitken said he's seen improvement straight away.
"Since my first session, I've actually been playing so much better. It was an instant thing," Aitken said.
"It's difficult in a comp round to reassess your game but these guys, they come behind you, watch your swing and then they tell you what you're doing straight away and it helps a lot."
The NIAS golf squad is building toward some competition from March onward and will take part in an intensive golf camp in February with the Jason Laws Golf Academy.
Before all that, Aitken will keep using the advice he gets from coaches on a weekly basis when he plays competition rounds with his dad Andrew and his younger brother Tom.
Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content:
- Bookmark northerndailyleader.com.au
- Make sure you are signed up for our breaking and regular headlines newsletters
- Follow us on Twitter
- Follow us on Instagram
- Follow us on Google News