Amateur golfer Alyaa gets proactive to pursue dream

PETALING JAYA: Malaysia’s top amateur golfer Alyaa Abdulghany is one determined athlete.

Alyaa has decided to do her part in her mission to be a professional golfer by raising her own money through the crowdfunding platform to pursue her dream as she gets ready to take part in the Qualifying School (Q-school) next week.

Through gofundme.com, she had raised US$2,800 (RM11,865) in less than 48 hours after launching it. It cost US$2,500 (RM10,593) to enter stage one and a further US$3,000 (RM12,713) for stage two.

It’s through the Q-school that Alyaa will be able to launch her pro career by winning the right to compete in next season’s US LPGA Tour.

The 22-year-old has to clear the first stage in Q-school that will take place at Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage, California, from Aug 19-22.

Only selected golfers will progress to stage two at the Plantation Golf and Country Club in Venice, Florida, from Oct 21-24, and Alyaa needs to do well to advance.

The first stage, which is limited to 450 participants, should draw a huge participation with the Q-school making its return following last year’s cancellation as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Alyaa will not be short of form and confidence ahead of next week’s test as she did well in two Us-based professional events in the past months - finishing tied fifth in the Texas Women’s Open and tied sixth in the Kathy Whitworth Paris Championship.

Alyaa will be joined by compatriots Loy Hee Ying and Genevieve Ling in the gruelling three-stage qualifiers which will culminate in the all-important final stage known as the Q-series at the Magnolia Grove (Dec 2-5) and Highland Oaks Golf Club (Dec 9-12) in Alabama.

Hopes are high on Alyaa to add Malaysia’s presence to the world’s most prestigious tour for women’s golf, where Kelly Tan is currently the country’s sole flagbearer.

The first golfer who had played on the LPGA Tour was Lim Siew Ai from 1999-2008.

Alyaa, who’s a US permanent resident, had recently graduated from the University of Southern California where she enjoyed a four-year stellar collegiate golf career.

The highlight of her amateur career was finishing joint-third in the prestigious US Women’s Amateur last year and was ranked as high as No. 24 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking.

She also became the first Malaysian to feature in the Arnold Palmer Cup, an annual prestigious Ryder Cup-style showdown involving the cream of the crop of collegiate golf in the US.

Alyaa, who started representing Malaysia in 2019, was born in Johor but had moved to Newport Beach, California, with her family since she was six.