Border golfer Daniel Gill hits the gym to tackle big hitters

The teenager is back home in Wodonga after moving to Melbourne at the end of February to improve his play.

The Victorian government banned golf for 45 days from late March due to the coronavirus with play only re-starting last Wednesday.

"I'm just trying to look at all the positives from it, make the most of it and get the body fit," Gill said of the enforced break from the game.

Gill weighs 72kgs and has been using the time off the course to build his strength.

"I'm not trying to really bulk up, just trying to get more general strength, I'm not the longest hitter out there," he said.

Gill averages around 260m off the tee and while that's certainly respectable, it can leave him up to 40m behind some of the bigger hitters.

"I'd like to get an extra 10-15m, that would be nice and more in the iron play too, just an extra club," he said.

"The VIS (Victorian Institute of Sport) has actually given us a three-day a week program to follow and I've actually built myself a little home gym here in the backyard, which is good.

"I've also been running about five to seven kilometres almost every day.

"I love running, I've always loved my running, but since this (coronavirus) has happened, the fitness (aspect) has grabbed my attention a bit more."

Gill also played junior football with Wodonga and Yackandandah, but elected to drop the sport at 14 to pursue his golf.

"I loved the footy and still love having a kick of the footy," he said.

But Gill showed at last year's Wodonga Golf Club pro-am he has the ability to match the professionals, finishing third, firing a superb five-under par round of 67.

After such an impressive display, Gill was planning a massive year of travel, but that was shut down by the COVID-19 pandemic.

He was set to rack up almost 40,000kms, tackling a series of top amateur events around the country, including three trips to Queensland, along with other tournaments in Tasmania and South Australia.

He also had a trip planned for New Zealand and was hoping to gain an invite to the prestigious US Junior Amateur.

Gill had a taste of American golf last year in the Junior World Championships at the picturesque Torrey Pines, California.

To highlight the standard, two of the sport's superstars in Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson are previous winners.

Woods also won the 2008 US Open at Torrey Pines, which overlooks the Pacific Ocean.

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Gill missed the cut, but his appearance at the world-renowned event steeled his appetite for the elite level.

However, any thoughts of returning this year have now been put on hold.

"Over the last seven weeks, I've focused on other stuff, but since golf is back on, I'm slowly getting back into it," he said.

"Tournaments won't come around for a long time yet, so it will be just the local events that I'll play."