There may be a 44-year gap between them but Nadene Gole and Bao Chau Nguyen share a common aim in proving that age is no barrier in golf at the seventh edition of the Women’s Amateur Asia Pacific (WAAP) championship.
While 56-year-old Australian Gole has experienced it all during an illustrious career spanning more than four decades, 12-year-old Vietnamese Nguyen is just setting out on her journey in golf.
Their appearances this week as the eldest and youngest players in a 95-strong field competing over the acclaimed Robert Trent Jones Jnr-designed Hoiana Shores Golf Club are an inspiration to people of all ages throughout the region.
Although neither of the WAAP debutants is expecting to lift the trophy in the 72-hole stroke play championship that rewards its winner with places in three women’s major championships, the mere fact that they’re included in the elite starting line-up on merit is an achievement in itself.
“I’m thrilled to be here with all these amazing young athletes. I don’t have anything to prove but I couldn’t have walked away from this opportunity,” said Gole, a former touring professional who dominated women’s senior golf last year.
In 2024, she won both the R&A Women’s Senior Amateur and US Senior Women’s Amateur, the first Australian to do so. In the process she broke into the top-100 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking® (WAGR) and became the number one senior.
During her time as a professional, Gole played in Australia, Japan and Europe, where the highlight was winning the Danish Open on the Ladies’ European Tour in 1996.
She stopped playing soon after to begin a family. When her two children reached their 20s, Gole resumed golf as an amateur and was soon winning senior championships across Australia and Asia.
She said, “I’m a great advocate that golf is a game for life – the friendships, the travel, the physical benefits. I’m just enjoying it while I can. This week is tough because the course is 10 to 15 per cent longer than what I’m used to these days. I’m having to hit woods into some greens where most girls are hitting irons. If I make the cut, I would say it’s a huge accomplishment.”
Gole was aged 12 when she began playing golf. As such, Nguyen can already claim to be five years ahead of the Australian in terms of getting her start in the sport.
It was in 2020, during the Covid-19 pandemic, that Nguyen had her introduction to golf, hitting balls alongside her father and brother in the flower garden in front of their house.
It has not taken long for her talent to flourish. In 2024, she had two wins and five top-ten finishes in WAGR-counting events on home soil and also placed 20th in the Malaysian Women’s Amateur Open.
“I feel proud, happy and a little nervous to be here this week,” said Bao Chau Nguyen, who asked team-mate Viet Gia Han Nguyen to act as her translator for what was her first exposure to an international media interview.
Currently 710th in the WAGR®, third among the six Vietnamese players taking part this week, Bao Chau Nguyen says her driving is her strongest suit, carrying the ball an average of 220 yards off the tee.
She acknowledges that she needs to improve her short game and that it will have to be at its sharpest if she’s to achieve her goal of making the cut here, which she believes will be accomplished if she can put together two sub-75 rounds.
Bau Chau Nguyen of Vietnam will compete at the Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific championship at Hoiana Shores Golf Club in Vietnam this week.
At this point, Gia Han Nguyen, a veritable veteran in comparison to Bao Chau Nguyen at 14-years-old, intervenes to spare the blushes of her young compatriot, who names Nelly Korda as her favourite player and admits to ambitions of making it to the LPGA Tour one day.
“Her ball-striking is excellent and she has so much talent, but she doesn’t have much tournament experience. Sometimes she needs to have better strategy and course management,” said Gia Han Nguyen, who can understand the emotions that Bao Chau Nguyen is going through better than most.
It was in 2022, when she was 11-years-old, that Gia Han Nguyen made history as the youngest ever player in the Vietnam National Championship. She’s now the country’s top-rated player at 368th in the WAGR®, a fourth-place finish in last year’s APGC Junior Girls Championship the standout performance.
While Gole and Bau Chau Nguyen may be at opposite ends of their careers, they have a common respect for the course that has recently celebrated its fifth anniversary.
“It’s a spectacular and difficult course, especially if the wind is blowing,” said Bao Chau Nguyen, who had a couple of rounds at the venue prior to the WAAP, as opposed to Gole who saw the layout for the first time this week.
“It’s amazing what they’ve done with the course. Parts of it remind me of golfing in Ireland,” said Gole.
Wee Peng Siong, General Manager at Hoiana Shores Golf Club, is in no doubt that staging the WAAP will further enhance the reputation of the course that has already been ranked in the top-100 in the world in various listings.
Wee said, “Our journey has taken us from a tranquil fishing village in Quang Nam to a Golf Environment Organisation-certified course. We remain steadfast in our vision to become the leading sustainable golf destination in Asia.”
The WAAP aims to inspire future generations of women golfers and provides the champion with life-changing opportunities through exemptions into three women’s major championships and other elite amateur championships.
The winner will be invited to compete in three major championships, including the AIG Women’s Open, Amundi Evian Championship and the Chevron Championship.
In addition, they will also be invited to the Hana Financial Group Championship, ISPS Handa Australian Open, The 122nd Women’s Amateur Championship and, by tradition, the Augusta National Women’s Amateur.
The R&A and APGC are supported by championship event partners that share their commitment to developing golf in the Asia-Pacific. The Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific championship is proudly supported by Rolex, ISPS Handa, Hoiana Shores Golf Club, Samsung, Hana Financial Group, Nippon Kabaya Ohayo Holdings, New World Hoiana Hotel, Peter Millar, G Link Logistics and Titleist.
