HONG KONG, 17 May 2015, (HK Golfer News Wire) - Also known as the Asia-Pacific Amateur Ladies Golf Team Championship, the event was last staged in Hong Kong in 2001 and Chan, who broke into the top 10 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking late last year, said that a combination of local knowledge and current form means Hong Kong have the potential to secure a place on the podium.
"As the host nation there is lot of hope for the team,” said the 21-year-old, who will be joined in the three-woman side by Isabella Leung Hei-nam and Kitty Tam Yik-ching. “The Koreans will probably start as the favourites, and Thailand has a strong side too, but if everything comes together then a top-three finish is possible.”
Chan, whose last appearance in the event was in 2013 when Hong Kong finished eighth, has every reason to be optimistic. Since moving to the United States to attend junior college two years ago, the former Diocesan Girls’ School student’s game has flourished. Victory at the World University Championship in Switzerland last June proved Chan could compete with the very best young players in the game, and she heads to the Hong Kong Golf Club full of belief after successfully defending her NJCAA National Championship title with a sparkling display in Arizona last week.
"I'm a better player now - my short game and putting has improved since I've been in the States," said Chan, who will follow in the footsteps of LPGA players Nicole Castrale and Jennifer Rosales when she joins the traditionally strong University of Southern California golf team in the autumn. "I've got more tournament experience on my side and my confidence has grown a lot in the past 12 months."
Chan's teammates are not lacking in terms of form themselves. Leung, who attends the University of Hawaii, claimed her first college title by winning the season-opening Oregon State Invitational, while 17-year-old Tam won her second successive Hong Kong Ladies Close Amateur Championship in February.
Chan expects to be able to iron out a small technical issue with her swing with the help of HKGA National Coach Brad Schadewitz before the 13-nation tournament gets underway, but denied that having to readjust to Hong Kong conditions was going to be a significant hurdle to overcome.
"The greens will certainly play differently than what I've become used to, but I know Fanling better than any other course - it's where I started playing as part of the HKGA junior squad more than 10 years ago - and with a couple of practice rounds I'll be all set and ready to go," added Chan.
It's a busy period for Hong Kong women's golf. Just two weeks after the completion of the Queen Sirikit Cup, Fanling will host the inaugural Hong Kong Ladies Open, a US$120,000 professional event sanctioned by the LPGA of Taiwan, the Ladies Asian Golf Tour and the HKGA, to which Chan has committed to play.
"It's an exciting time for golf in Hong Kong," she continued. "When I've played in pro events before I've had to travel to China or Taiwan, so to have our own tournament in Hong Kong is great to see. It's going to be a special feeling playing back-to-back tournaments on home soil."