Malaysia’s promising amateur Winnie Ng is thrilled to be competing in this week’s EFG Hong Kong Ladies Open on a sponsor’s invitation.
The 16-year-old 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 at the historic Hong Kong Golf Club in Fanling on May 11-13.
“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 Ng.
“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,” added Ng, who enjoyed a highly impressive 2017 season when she won 11 titles and has carried her form into this year with three wins to date.
Ng will have four fellow Malaysians for company in the tournament – professionals Ainil Johani Bakar, Aretha Pan, Michelle Koh and Nur Durriyah Damian.
Swiss Private Bank EFG has been a supporter of women’s golf in Hong Kong for a decade. Chan became an EFG International Sport Ambassador when she turned professional exactly a year ago and qualified for the LPGA Tour soon after that.
Earlier this year, EFG made the decision 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.
Asia Pacific Chief for EFG, 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.”
The fourth edition of the China LPGA event has a prize fund of US$150,000. Lee Jeong-hwa of South Korea was the inaugural champion in 2015, while there was a home win for Chan the following year.
