{"id":472079,"date":"2026-02-11T04:31:09","date_gmt":"2026-02-11T04:31:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/472079\/"},"modified":"2026-02-11T04:31:09","modified_gmt":"2026-02-11T04:31:09","slug":"waap-highlights-depth-of-womens-amateur-golf-in-asia-pacific-sports","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/472079\/","title":{"rendered":"WAAP highlights depth of women\u2019s amateur golf in Asia-Pacific – Sports"},"content":{"rendered":"

he region\u2019s top women amateur golfers, including Indonesia\u2019s Abigail\u00a0Rhea Soeryo Wiharko, Malaysia\u2019s Jeneath Wong, Singapore\u2019s Chen Xingtong, Filipino Rianne Malixi and South Korea\u2019s Soomin Oh, do not need to look far for inspiration when they reach the crossroads of a professional career.<\/p>\n

A glance at the 2025 Women\u2019s World Golf Rankings and LPGA Tour points list reveals the same name at the very top, one that has been on the lips of everyone who follows the women\u2019s game closely.<\/p>\n

Thailand\u2019s Jeeno Thitikul was the standout performer last year, cementing herself as the planet\u2019s best women\u2019s golfer after a stunning rise.\u00a0Fittingly, her roots trace back to the Women\u2019s Amateur Asia-Pacific Championship (WAAP), whose eighth edition tees off at Royal Wellington Golf Club in New Zealand on Thursday.<\/p>\n

Jeeno embodies the strength in depth of women\u2019s golf across the Asia-Pacific. Seven players from the region sit inside the world\u2019s top 10 and 30 feature among the top 50. The bubbly Thai has often hailed the WAAP as the launchpad for a burgeoning career that now includes seven LPGA victories.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The 22-year-old Thai won the inaugural WAAP in Singapore in 2018 and finished runner-up in her title defense the following year. Now, a new generation of elite amateurs, including Indonesia\u2019s 15-year-old Rhea Abigail, hopes to follow in her footsteps.<\/p>\n

Like all aspiring teenaged golfers, Abigail is thrilled to get her first tee shot into the air at Royal Welington.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAt first, I didn\u2019t expect to receive an invitation from WAAP, but I\u2019m extremely excited to participate in such a big tournament. This is an incredible opportunity and will surely be an amazing experience for me,\u201d said Abigail, who is a two-time Indonesian National Junior champion.<\/p>\n

\u201cHonestly, I only recently realized how prestigious WAAP is. I\u2019ve seen the players\u2019 list and their rankings on the WAAP website [\u2026] they are all top-level players. I want to learn how to stay calm and play confidently.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hailing from the holiday isle of Bali, Abigail hopes to emulate or better fellow Balinese golfer Ida Ayu Indira Melati Putri, who holds the honor of posting the best Indonesian finish to date in the WAAP following a tied 11th\u00a0finish in Dubai in 2021.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am really proud of Mela\u2019s [Ida Ayu\u2019s nickname] achievement. Seeing a Balinese golfer achieve the best result for Indonesia in such a prestigious event motivates me and boosts my confidence,\u201d said Abigail, who holds five World Amateur Golf Ranking wins.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m quite confident in myself. I think that receiving an invitation to such a prestigious event shows that my game is already good enough. But I also know I need to adapt to the weather, course conditions and the grass.\u201d<\/p>\n

Malaysia\u2019s Jeneath Wong rewrote golf history at last year\u2019s championship when she became the first player from the country to win the WAAP. Like many others, she was inspired by Jeeno\u2019s rise in the game.<\/p>\n

\u201cGrowing up, I followed the championship closely and always saw it as one of the biggest goals for an amateur golfer in this region. Just qualifying to play was once a dream, so winning, it felt surreal. It shows young girls that pathways exist and big dreams are achievable,\u201d said Jeneath, who made\u00a0golf history by becoming the first Malaysian to triumph last year.<\/p>\n

\u201cPlayers like Jeeno are incredibly inspiring. Seeing someone start their journey at the WAAP and go on to achieve so much at the professional level shows what\u2019s possible. Her success motivates me to stay patient, work hard and trust the process as I continue developing my game. It\u2019s reassuring to see a clear pathway from amateur golf in our region to success on the world stage.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jeneath, now in her final year at Pepperdine University in the United States, hailed the WAAP for providing elite amateurs with a clear route to the top, especially with the champion earning exemptions into several of the LPGA Tour\u2019s leading major championships and elite amateur events.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe WAAP has had a massive impact on women\u2019s golf in Asia-Pacific by creating opportunities and visibility for young female golfers.\u00a0Growing up, I followed the championship closely and always saw it as one of the biggest goals for an amateur golfer in this region,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n


\n \"South
\n <\/a>
\n South Korean amateur golfer Soomin Oh. (The R&A\/-)<\/p>\n

South Korea\u2019s Soomin Oh, the highest-ranked player in this week\u2019s field at world No. 11 and touted as a golf phenom, will be looking to go one better after finishing second behind Jeneath in Vietnam last year.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cMy goal is to win. I was runner-up last year, so my desire is even stronger this time. But rather than getting greedy, I want to focus on gaining good experience and enjoying the championship,\u201d said the 17-year-old, who is a two-time Queen Sirikit Cup winner and the 2024 World Amateur Junior Girls Champion.<\/p>\n

A total of 84 players from 26 countries will contest the WAAP, developed by the Asia-Pacific Golf Confederation (APGC) and The R&A to nurture talent and provide a pathway for the region\u2019s elite women amateurs to the international stage.<\/p>\n

As Jeeno\u2019s success shows, the WAAP offers life-changing rewards. The winner earns exemptions into three major championships in 2026,\u00a0the AIG Women\u2019s Open at Royal Lytham & St Annes, the Amundi Evian Championship and the Chevron Championship, plus invitations to elite events including the Hana Financial Group Championship, ISPS HANDA Women\u2019s Australian Open, the Women\u2019s Amateur Championship and the Augusta National Women\u2019s Amateur.<\/p>\n

\u2014 The writer led communications for the PGA and Asian Tours for 25 years and now runs a sports PR consultancy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"he region\u2019s top women amateur golfers, including Indonesia\u2019s Abigail\u00a0Rhea Soeryo Wiharko, Malaysia\u2019s Jeneath Wong, Singapore\u2019s Chen Xingtong, Filipino…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":472080,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[566],"tags":[4032,77,64,63,755,85,240819,240820],"class_list":{"0":"post-472079","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-golf","8":"tag-amateur","9":"tag-asia-pacific","10":"tag-au","11":"tag-australia","12":"tag-golf","13":"tag-sports","14":"tag-waap-championship","15":"tag-women-golf"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/472079","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=472079"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/472079\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/472080"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=472079"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=472079"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=472079"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}