High Hopes for Australian High Performers

Melbourne, Australia: Six of Australia’s leading female amateurs will be chasing Major championship starts and a trip to Augusta National when they compete in the eighth edition of the Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific (WAAP) championship at Royal Wellington Golf Club from February 12-15.

Golf Australia High Performance Squad members Jazy Roberts (Victoria), Raegan Denton (South Australia), Shyla Singh (Queensland), and Grace Rho (Queensland), along with Golf New South Wales representatives Ella Scaysbrook and Rachel Lee, will travel to New Zealand to compete across four rounds of stroke play in pursuit of the WAAP title.

Roberts and Scaysbrook return to Australia’s squad after competing at the 2025 WAAP in Vietnam where Roberts finished tied fourth as Australia’s top performer and Scaysbrook tied 42nd.

Launched in 2018, the WAAP has been won twice each by players from Chinese Taipei, Japan and Thailand. Last year, Jeneath Wong became the first Malaysian to capture the title.

To date the best performance by an Australian at the WAAP came in Abu Dhabi in 2021 when Kelsey Bennett tied for second place.

Coached by Dean Kinney and managed by Stacey Peters, the 2026 Australian contingent will arrive in Wellington with strong belief in their preparation – and their prospects.

Peters said: “It’s one of those events that bridges the gap between top-level amateur golf and what they’re all ultimately chasing. The standard is high, the pressure is real, and the rewards on offer are pretty special – it’s exactly the kind of environment you want young players exposed to. 

“They’ve all had plenty of national and state-level experience coming into this, and they’re at slightly different stages which is great for the team dynamic. There’s a lot of belief in this group, and they push each other in the right way.

“By the time we get to Royal Wellington, it’s about trusting the work they’ve already done.”

Particular attention will be focused on Denton, who continued her excellent 2025 form into the New Year with victory at last week’s Australian Master of the Amateurs. The reigning Australian Junior Girls champion who was third in last year’s Asia-Pacific Golf Confederation (APGC) Junior Girls Championship, Denton’s latest triumph has propelled her into the top-50 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking for the first time, in 42nd place.

Established in 2018 by The R&A and APGC, the championship unearths emerging talent and provides a pathway for elite female amateurs in the Asia-Pacific region.

The WAAP offers life-changing opportunities to the winner, including exemptions into three Major championships in 2026 – the AIG Women’s Open at Royal Lytham & St Annes, the Amundi Evian Championship in France and the Chevron Championship in the United States.

The winner will also receive invitations to a handful of other elite championships such as the Hana Financial Group Championship, ISPS HANDA Women’s Australian Open, The 123rd Women’s Amateur Championship and the Augusta National Women’s Amateur.

*The R&A and APGC are supported by championship event partners that share their commitment to developing golf in the Asia-Pacific. The WAAP championship is proudly supported by Rolex, ISPS Handa, Royal Wellington Golf Club, Samsung, Hana Financial Group, Nippon Kabaya Ohayo Holdings, Peter Millar, New Zealand Mercedes-Benz, Titleist and Tongariro as well as investment partners New Zealand Major Events and Wellington Council.