Golf NSW has announced the athletes selected across its 2026 High Performance Program, a group of outstanding players who represent some of the most exciting golfing talent in the country. Spanning elite junior development through to nationally competitive amateurs, US college athletes and an emerging professional, the 2026 cohort reflects both the depth of the state’s player pathway and the ambitions of a program that has helped to produce the likes of Grace Kim, Steph Kyriacou, Cameron Davis and Travis Smyth.
2026 HP Squad
Ella Scaysbrook
Ella Scaysbrook announced herself on the world stage in 2025 with a stunning run to the semi-finals of the US Women’s Amateur at Bandon Dunes, one of the most prestigious amateur events in the game, losing only six holes across 67 played during her match play campaign. The Australian Golf Club member backed it up with a ninth-place finish at the Women’s Western Amateur and represented Australia at the Espirito Santo Trophy in Singapore. Closer to home, she defended her Avondale Bowl title in January 2026, adding to a year that also included a runner-up finish at the 2025 Australian Master of the Amateurs. Scaysbrook has also been selected in the 2026 NSW Interstate Team.
Rachel Lee
Rachel Lee became only the second Australian in a decade to win the Australian Women’s Amateur Championship, claiming the title at Commonwealth Golf Club in January 2025 with a dominant three-shot victory. The Avondale Golf Club member set the pace immediately, shooting an equal course record 65 at Cranbourne in the second round to take command of the field, emulating her clubmate Grace Kim who won the same title in 2021. The achievement was the highlight of a remarkable run of form that had already seen Lee grab a share of the first-round lead at the Australian Women’s Open as a schoolgirl in 2023, win the Women’s NSW Open Regional Qualifying at Mollymook, and claim strokeplay honours at the NSW Amateur. She has represented Australia at the Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific Championship in New Zealand and is a member of the 2026 NSW Interstate Team.
Kayun Mudadana
Kayun Mudadana is one of the most prolific and well-travelled performers on the Australian amateur circuit. In 2025, he claimed three ranked victories, the South Australian Amateur Classic (which he defended from 2024), the NSW Cup and the UAE Cup, along with eight further top-10 finishes, including a third-place result at the Scottish Men’s Open. He opened 2026 by winning the Avondale Amateur at 10-under par. Internationally, he represented Australia at the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship in Dubai and at the 2024 Toyota World Juniors in Japan, and was selected for the Cam Smith Scholarship in 2024, earning invaluable time with the 2022 Open Champion. A member of NSW Golf Club from Barden Ridge, Mudadana is selected in the 2026 NSW Interstate Team.
Sam Cascio
Sam Cascio made history in 2024 as the first Wollongong golfer to win the Australian Junior Championship, joining an honour roll that includes Adam Scott, Jason Day and Cameron Smith. The Australian Golf Club member delivered a dominant performance at Gosnells Golf Club in Perth, winning by four shots with a final round six-under 64, and earned an invitation to the Australian Open off the back of the title. He has also recorded victories at the NSW Champion of Club Champions and the Wollongong Golf Club Championship, and was recognised as the JNJG Most Improved Junior Boy in 2023 following wins at the NSWCHS All Schools Championship, Macarthur Junior Masters and Ballina Junior Masters.
Harry Whitelock
Harry Whitelock became the youngest-ever winner of the Royal Canberra Golf Club Championship in 2024 at just 17 years of age, and has built a strong record of titles, including the Webex Players Series, Greg Norman Junior Masters, Greg Chalmers Junior Masters and Peter O’Malley Junior Masters. In 2023, he was named the JNJG Junior Boy Master of the Masters following a nine-shot triumph in Bathurst. He demonstrated his readiness to compete at senior level with a T4 finish at the prestigious Avondale Amateur in 2025, and has been a member of the ACT Junior Boys State Team in both 2024 and 2025. The Royal Canberra Golf Club member also claimed the Federal GC Club Championship and the RCGC Matchplay Championship.
Camilla Kim
Camilla Kim is one of the most decorated junior golfers to have come through the Golf NSW pathway in recent years. Named JNJG Sub Junior Girl of the Year in 2023, she won five Junior Masters titles that season, including the Jack Newton International Sub-Junior Classic outright, outperforming older competitors to do so, and claimed the ACT Week of Golf by eight shots. In 2024, she advanced further with a T3 finish at the NSW Amateur Strokeplay and a T4 at the Victorian Junior Open. In 2025, she was crowned joint NSW Junior Girls Champion after an epic five-hole playoff, and made the cut at the Ford Women’s NSW Open as a 15-year-old, finishing at four-under and outscoring seasoned Ladies European Tour professionals. Kim is named in both the 2026 NSW Junior Girls and Senior Women’s Interstate Teams.
Golf NSW Futures Program
Declan O’Donovan
Declan O’Donovan has wasted absolutely no time making his mark as a professional. Just seven starts into his new career, the 22-year-old stormed to a five-stroke victory at the Webex Players Series Sydney at Castle Hill Country Club in February 2026, closing with five birdies in his final seven holes to win in front of friends and family in his home city. The win came on the back of a third-place finish at the Webex Players Series Murray River the week prior, and secured him two years of playing rights on the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia.
It caps a remarkable rise for the Avondale Golf Club member, who is also the first back-to-back winner of the NSW Amateur in almost 50 years. His crowning amateur achievement came in July 2025 when he won the 120th Canadian Men’s Amateur Championship at Royal Ottawa Golf Club, the first Australian to claim the title since 1993 European Golf Rankings, earning a start at the 2026 RBC Canadian Open on the PGA Tour. He followed that with second place individually at the Eisenhower Trophy in Singapore, helping Australia to a second-place team finish in the 36-nation event, before closing his amateur career ranked a career-high 229th in the world. The Golf NSW Futures Program continues to support O’Donovan as he builds what promises to be a distinguished professional career.
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