A Week to Remember

I have taken away a great deal from playing among some of the world's best players, particularly in terms of their work ethic, their course management and their mastery of the short game. While my distance off the tee is quite similar to a lot of the pros, there's still a huge amount I have to work on. I admired the pros' drive and motivation to strive for improvement and it proved to me that the quality of their games comes from hard work – never believe anyone who plays well and claims not to work for it, since a week with the pros taught me that the phrase 'the harder you practice, the luckier you get' is absolutely true.

In terms of course management, I realised that the vast majority of world-class players will always play to the 'safe' side; it was rare to see them going for a dangerous pin, and it showed that securing a par on a tough hole was a better bet than playing risky for a birdie. The pros also showed great composure and although they would get frustrated at missing a putt or hitting a loose shot – they're not flawless – they rarely brought that frustration with them to the next tee. This is something I've had to kick myself into doing, because when I was younger, I often let my emotions get the better of me.

I met so many friendly people from the two sanctioning tours – the Ladies European Tour and the China Ladies PGA Tour – and it was great to see many of the girls, particularly from China, that I had played junior golf with before in amateur tournaments. Talking to the European girls also made me realise that the travel involved on such a globally-focused circuit is tough! I also got to experience my first formal pre-tournament gala dinner, which was entertaining – there was a fashion show organised by one of the main sponsors, and that added a different perspective to the week.

I would first like to thank Mission Hills for putting together such a first-class tournament and for giving me such a wonderful opportunity to play. I would also like to thank the Hong Kong Golf Association for nurturing me over the years; I have literally grown up in the HKGA!

All in all the week was one of the most memorable of my golfing career and I hope to be able to play in more events of this quality in the future as I really enjoyed both the experience and the level of competition. Playing alongside such amazing talent helps amateur players like me improve and focus on what it takes to succeed at the highest level.