HONG KONG: Malaysian rising star Winnie Ng Yu Xuan continues her golfing education this week after receiving an invitation to the fourth edition of the EFG Hong Kong Ladies Open.
The 16-year-old national amateur will take on the likes of Hong Kong’s first golfing Olympian and LPGA rookie Tiffany Chan Tsz-ching and defending champion Thailand’s Supamas Sangchan from May11-13 at the historic Hong Kong Golf Club in Fanling.
Having been a committed supporter of women’s golf in Hong Kong for over a decade, EFG made the decision earlier this year to expand its golf portfolio to Southeast Asia and made its foray into Malaysia through an invitation to Ng to play at the 2018 EFG Hong Kong Ladies Open.
It also extended a year-long partnership with top Singaporean professional golfer Koh Sock Hwee, who will also compete in Hong Kong this week.
Ng has been one of the most promising Malaysian juniors in recent years, and enjoyed a highly impressive 2017 season when she won 11 times across the region. She has carried her winning momentum into 2018 with victories at Terengganu and Negeri Sembilan Amateur Opens in addition to topping the National Schools Championship.
While she has competed at professional tournaments before, this is the first time the Kuala Lumpur native has received a sponsor’s start to compete against some of the most seasoned professionals in Asia and beyond in the US$150,000 event.
“I am thrilled beyond words with this generous invitation from EFG. It is my goal to turn professional after my academic studies and collegiate golf in the US and the opportunity to compete in Hong Kong this week will take me another step forward to achieving my goal,” said the Kolej Tunku Ja’afar student.
“To be able to compete against the likes of Tiffany Chan, and some of the most experienced competitors in the region will allow me to see where my game is, and areas I need to work on. It is also a great confidence booster to know that someone out there is paying attention to my performances and recognising all the hard work I have put in. I want to thank EFG for this amazing opportunity and I will look to learn and enjoy as much as I can from my EFG Hong Kong Ladies Open experience,” she added.
In a brief statement, EFG’s Asia Pacific chief Albert Chiu commented:“We are delighted to offer our 2018 EFG Hong Kong Ladies Open sponsor invite to Winnie, whose results over the past year have simply been outstanding.
Our commitment to sport has always been about nurturing home-grown local talents so they get every possible chance of reaching their full potential, and hopefully be good enough to represent their nation one day.
No one deserves our invitation more than Winnie, and we hope the EFG Hong Kong Ladies Open experience can move her one step closer to her dream of turning professional.”
