Team Singapore can spring a surprise at Taiwan Amateur Golf Championship, says Smit
Singapore May 27: Newly appointed National coach Murray Smit believes his charges are capable of springing a surprise against some of the region’s most elite amateurs when they tee off at next week’s Taiwan Amateur Golf Championship.
Team Singapore will be represented by the quartet of Daryl Low, Sean Lee, Inez Ng and Hailey Loh when the tournament gets underway at the Pei Tou Kuo Hua Golf and Country Club in New Taipei City from May 30 to June 2.
While the Smit is under no illusions that competition at the Taiwan Amateur Golf Championships will be stiff, the 32-year-old South African, who relocated to Singapore last month, remains optimistic that Team Singapore can punch above their weight.
“Looking at the teams we are going to compete against in Taiwan next week, a lot of them competed at the South East Asia (SEA) Games and finished higher than we did. But if our players can play to their true potential, I don’t see why we will not have some of them top the leaderboard and surprise a few people,” said Smit.
“Hailey obviously won conference (NCAA Western Athletic Conference Women’s Golf Championship) just before SEA Games. I’m excited by her as she plays really solid golf. Inez just came back after playing really well at Regionals for UNC (University of North Carolina). Her team might not have made it through, but she played nicely there.”
“Daryl had a positive SEA Games experience, finishing under-par overall. That was a step forward for him in some aspect. I have seen a nice progression in Sean’s game in the last seven weeks since I have been here. I’m super excited to see how they fare.”
The Taiwan Amateur Golf Championship was last staged in 2019 before the Covid-19 pandemic caused worldwide disruptions. With normalcy returning and as part of its 30th anniversary celebrations, the Chinese Taipei Golf Association is inviting elite amateurs from Asia-Pacific Golf Confederation (APGC) member countries to join the celebrations this year.
Each invited team for this year’s Taiwan Amateur Golf Championship will consist of four players (two male and two female), along with a non-playing team coach or national association representative. To be eligible, male players must have been listed in the top-400 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR) as of March 16 and females within the top-300.
SEA Games individual gold medallist Le Khanh Hung of Vietnam along with Malaysia’s Malcolm Ting, who clinched the individual silver medal will feature in the field that includes players from 10 countries – Korea, Australia, Hong Kong, China, Thailand, Singapore, Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam, United Arab Emirates and Malaysia.
