Singapore teen golfer Shannon Tan buoyed by runner-up finish at Queen Sirikit Cup
By Godfrey Robert
THE Queen Sirikit Cup is a popular pathway treaded by leading Asia-Pacific amateur women golfers looking to make that decision about turning professional.
This was the platform from which leading women golfers such as Australians Karrie Webb and Minjee Lee, Japan’s Ai Miyazato, South Koreans Pak Se-ri and Shin Ji-yae, New Zealander Lydia Ko, China’s Feng Shanshan, Taiwan’s Tseng Ya-ni and Thailand’s Patty Tavatanakit had launched their professional careers.
The tournament — officially known as the Asia-Pacific Amateur Ladies Golf Team Championship — is rich in history. It was officially inaugurated in Thailand in 1979, when 9 countries took part in an event graced by Thailand’s Queen Sirikit. It was first played over 54 holes, but this year, it was changed to 4 rounds.
Held at Singapore’s Laguna National Golf Resort Club and featuring 39 golfers from 13 countries this year, the event produced a sensational Singaporean finisher in teenager Shannon Tan, who surged to a second-place finish, just one shot shy of Japan’s individual champion Mizuki Hashimoto.
This superlative performance has reinforced in Shannon, who turned 18 last month, the innate desire to make a career out of golf. When she enrols in Texas Tech University in the United States on a full scholarship this August, she will focus her attention on golf with her sights set on turning pro after graduation.
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Supporting her will be Lyn Yeo, the former Singapore Golf Association vice-president who formed LLD Sports in 2019 with the aim of raising the standard of junior golfers in the region, and working towards sending a Singaporean woman to the Olympics.
Shannon, the only child, was introduced to golf by her father Desmond, who has been a pillar behind her since her golf baptism at the age of six. Much credit for her phenomenal rise in 12 years to a plus-5 handicap index golfer goes to her doting dad, who pulled her out of the Singapore education system, after Secondary One at Methodist Girls’ School, to continue her education in the Gold Coast in Australia.
The 3-year stint Down Under helped her golf tremendously and Shannon, who has played at Augusta (National Women’s Amateur) and a professional (Hana Financial Group Championship) event in South Korea, sees a bright horizon ahead as she builds up her golf experience.
In Texas, the world No 76-ranked amateur plans to do a course in sports management because it will complement her golf commitments by allowing her to spend enough time on the course and at the driving range.
At last week’s Queen Sirikit Cup event, she shot scores of 2-under 70, 70, 68 and 72 for an 8-under 280 total that would have been the joint-best score, if not for a late birdie by Mizuki who, with 4 holes to play, was tied with Shannon on top of the leaderboard.
The 1.67-metre tall Shannon, who played 65 bogey-free holes and hit 14-15 fairways in each of the 4 rounds, has a practical approach to competitions. She said: “I never expected to finish second. I do my best with my own game because I can control what I do. I can’t control that of others, so it’s best to focus on what you are doing. There’s also the support given to us, including by Laguna National for providing me (a venue) to practice.”
Yeo said: “Shannon has demonstrated that with determination, perseverance and good support from stakeholders, it is possible to compete against the best in the world. Hopefully, she will become Singapore’s first golf Olympian and inspire more girls and boys to play the game.”
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