Lau to lead M’sia’s charge at Women’s Amateur Golf C’ship

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s top ranked amateur junior golfer, Ashley Lau Jen Wen will lead the country’s charge at the 2018 Women’s Amateur AsiaPacific Golf Championship to be held at new Tanjong course of Sentosa Golf Club in Singapore starting today.

Besides Lau, five other Malaysian golfers will also take part in the four-day tournament – Natasha Andrea Oon, Winnie Ng Yu Xuan, Liyana Durisic, Geraldine Xiao Xuan Wong and Qistina Balqis Azhar.

Lau, 17, noted that it would be a major test for all players to put up a formidable performance in the 5.904-metre layout course as over half of the competitors were young and aged 18 and below.

“It’s playing a bit long, but the course is in great condition,” she was quoted as saying in the statement issued by the organiser.

Sharing her views were Oon who was excited to play in the golf course for the first time, having watched her best friend, Jessica Korda of the United States play in the HSBC Women’s World Championship, last year.

“I’ve been here but never played this course before, but it’s really good. It’s very long, everyone’s saying it’s very long, especially as you have three par-fours close to 400 metres,” added Oon who will further her studies at the University of Michigan in United States later this year.

A total of 83 amateur golfers from 18 countries, in which 15 players of them are in the top 100 of the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR), have confirmed to feature in the inaugural tournament.

The winner of the tournament will earn an invitation to play in two major championships – the ANA Inspiration from March 29- April 1 at Mission Hills Country Club in California, United States and the Ricoh Women’s British Open (August 2-5) at Royal Lytham and St Annes Golf Club in Lancashire, England.