The Singapore Golf Association (SGA) has named its strongest team ready to compete for top honours on home soil when the World Amateur Team Championships (WATC) tees off at the Tanah Merah Country Club next month.
Chen Xingtong, together with Inez Ng and Valencia Chang will lead the women’s charge as they vie for the Espírito Santo Trophy from October 1-4 on the Tampines course, while Hiroshi Tai, who made history by becoming the first Singaporean to compete at the Masters Tournament in April, will anchor the men’s team alongside Brayden Lee and Troy Storm when they go into battle against the world’s best amateurs for the Eisenhower Trophy from October 8-11.
Both championships consist of 72 holes of stroke play. Teams comprise two or three players, with the best two scores in each 18-hole round counting toward the team’s daily score. The team with the lowest combined total over four rounds will be crowned champions.
At only 16, Chen recorded a historic runner-up finish and was the first Singaporean to feature at the US Girls Junior Championship final last month. Chen secured her first international title at the 2023 Selangor Amateur Open before going on to become the youngest player to win the 2024 Singapore Open Amateur Championships at 15.
Ng will be making her third WATC appearance following her debut in 2018 and a memorable one in Abu Dhabi in 2022, where she finished joint-fourth in the individual rankings – Singapore’s best-ever finish at the WATC.
WATC debutants Lee and Chang, meanwhile, are also no strangers to success. 17-year-old Lee claimed one of the biggest wins in April when he outplayed some of the region’s top golfers to win the Royal Junior in Japan. Chang also enjoyed international success by lifting the German International Youth trophy last year.
Storm, who played in the 2023 edition, was part of the victorious Lion City Cup team at the Southeast Asian Amateur Team Championships last year and finished second at the Hong Kong Junior Championship earlier this month.
SGA national coach Murray Smit is confident in the strength and depth of the team and believes his charges will rise to the occasion in front of the home fans.
“These are exciting times for Singapore golf, and I believe our six selected golfers will put up the strongest challenge as Singapore hosts the prestigious WATC for the first time,” said Smit.
Fans can also follow the action on the Singapore Golf Association’s (SGA) Facebook and Instagram accounts and the IGF Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.