James, who will tee off in the first round of the Forbes Golf Club Championships on Saturday, was recently invited to join the academy’s new golf program for the next 12 months.

The six handicapper is one of a handful of golfers from the Central West to be chosen for the academy golf program, which aims to increase the representation of regional youngsters competing at state level.

Earlier this week James got a glimpse of what to expect in the next year when he joined about 30 young golfers at a two-day coaching clinic, offered by the Lachlan Valley Association of Golf.

The clinic, held at Forbes on Tuesday and Parkes yesterday, was led by Orange-based professional, Bruce McLean, who is also the head coach with the new WRAS golf program.

Bruce said country juniors are under represented in New South Wales golf squads, not because the regions lack talent, but opportunity.

“Hopefully in two or three years down the track, we’ll have a lot more golfers from this region making those state teams,” Bruce said, leading a practice session at Forbes on Tuesday morning.

“I think it’s not just that the city courses are more challenging, but also most of the big championships are played on those courses,” he said, explaining the high ratio of metropolitan golfers in state age squads.

Bruce said James and the other young golfers selected in the 2009/10 academy program can expect to play on a wider range of courses and in varied conditions.

“James is at a stage where he is progressing very well but he needs to develop the mental aptitude to adjust his game to suit the different types of courses he will play on,” Bruce said.

“He needs to adapt his game, which involves maturing in the mind while continuing to develop those technical and mechanical aspects of his game too.”

James recently had some experience playing in larger tournaments, when he contested the NSW Junior Championships at Parkes. His best round was an even par 72 on the final day, and he managed to finish with the 10th best net score.