NOAH Best's original goal was to just secure his spot in the Victorian team for the national championships.
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But the 17-year-old, who celebrated his birthday two weeks ago, went one better by securing his first School Sport Victoria state title at a familiar famous Melbourne-based course.
The Port Fairy, Warrnambool and Commonwealth golf clubs member used his knowledge from playing pennant golf on Melbourne's iconic sandbelt courses to claim a one-shot victory at Metropolitan on Friday afternoon.
"I've played there half a dozen times and I feel it suits me and I tend to play quite well here," Best said of his connection with the major championship-rated course.
"It's a great course. They played the PGA World Cup of Golf there last year and they always have big events coming back here so it's nice to get to play it."
Best shot a two-over round of 73, which included two birdies and four bogeys, to top the leaderboard and nail his spot in the Victorian team for School Sport Australia's 18 and Under Championships in Mandurah, Western Australia, in August.
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The Warrnambool College student credited his starts on each hole and familiar conditions as critical factors which helped him secure a surprise victory.
"I was really good off the tee and worked my way around the course hitting fairways and putting as good as I could," he said.
"It was really tough as the wind was up and it was raining most of the day. It was very similar to back home, which is normally windy, raining and cold so it was good to win in those sorts of conditions.
"I wasn't aiming for anything other than to go there to play my golf and make the (Victorian) team, it didn't really faze me if I didn't win."
The right-hander said it was a nervous wait in the clubhouse as he watched the live scores trickle through before excitement took over as he realised he was going to be named the winner.
Best's focus now shifts to fine-tuning his craft ahead of the trip west.
"I'm going to be working on my putting and trying to get my short game up to scratch because there are some spots I sometimes can't get up and down from," he said.
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