NZ Sextet Set Sights on Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific

Auckland, New Zealand: Six New Zealanders have been invited to compete at the 2024 Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific (WAAP) in Thailand and vie for a spot in some of women’s golf’s biggest championships, including three Majors.

After a successful tournament in 2022, the region’s premier women’s amateur event will return to the Waterside Course at Siam Country Club in Pattaya from February 1-4.

With Fiona Xu having turned pro, the New Zealand flag will be flown by Vivian Lu, Eunseo Choi, Amy Im, Carmen Lim, Mimi Guo and Sumin Kang.

As well as earning starts in three of the five Majors in women’s golf – AIG Women’s Open, Chevron Championship and Amundi Evian Championship – the winner also receives an invite to play in the Korean LPGA’s Hana Financial Group Championship and the Augusta National Women’s Amateur (ANWA).

All six women have played in the tournament previously in the past two years, with Lu, Choi, and Kang participating in the 2022 WAAP at Siam Country Club, won Chinese Taipei's Tiffany Huang Ting-hsuan.

Golf New Zealand High Performance Manager Gregg Thorpe said that over the last five years, the WAAP has provided a unique opportunity for women’s golf in the Asia-Pacific region.

He said: “For our emerging talent to be able to challenge themselves on strong layouts against their Asia-Pacific peers while being beamed around the world on live television, the tournament really does give them a sense of what professional golf could be like.

“It’s an aspirational event while also providing great development opportunities … and for one lucky player, it can be truly life-changing!

“We commend The R&A and the Asia-Pacific Golf Confederation for their vision and thank the event partners for their support in ensuring the event is a success each year.”

Lu and Xu finished as the low Kiwis in a share of 13th place at the 2022 WAAP. This year, Xu placed third when the event was held at the Singapore Island Country Club.

Lu is looking to better her finish from 2022. She says that having played the course in tournament conditions will play to her advantage.

“I’m excited to get back to Siam Country Club again. I’m familiar with the layout and have a good plan of how to approach the golf course. I just need to focus on my preparation. Hopefully, that will put me in good stead for the week.”

The inaugural WAAP was played in 2018 and was won by Thai Atthaya Thittikul, who triumphed in a four-way play-off that included New Zealander Wenyung Keh.