The R&A and Asia-Pacific Golf Confederation have launched the Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific Academy to support the development of world-class players in countries throughout the region.
The initiative, funded by Samsung and The R&A Foundation, builds upon the success of the Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific championship, which was introduced in 2018 to provide a pathway for the region’s elite women amateurs to reach the international stage and earn life-changing opportunities to play in three major championships.
Golfers are invited to take part in a week-long programme under the guidance of leading instructors and experts who specialise in strength and conditioning, sports psychology, data analysis and bio-metrics as well as short game and swing technique.
The first cohort attended the Siam Country Club in Thailand in December last year.
Dominic Wall, regional managing director Asia-Pacific at The R&A, said: “The growth of golf in countries around the world is core to our purpose and this includes supporting young golfers in their development by providing more opportunities to nurture their skills both on and off the course.
“Access to a world-class coaching environment is not always possible in some countries and so establishing the WAAP Academy is an important step towards ensuring that players have access to guidance and expertise from qualified coaches who will work with them closely to develop their physical and mental capabilities. We have already seen its benefits with two top-10 players in the World Amateur Golf Ranking attending.
“I would like to thank Samsung and The R&A Foundation for supporting the WAAP Academy, and Siam Country Club for hosting the inaugural gathering and to all the coaches involved in the initiative.”
“We have many countries with highly-developed programmes. But bringing some of the coaching information, the technology, the resources that The R&A have been able to put together is really going to help our next level of countries get to the highest level.”
Gareth Jones
Ahead of the seventh edition of the WAAP at the Hoiana Shores Golf Club in Vietnam next month, the inaugural Academy proved a success.
The six-day gathering brought together 13 players, including Malaysian Mirabel Ting and Rianne Malixi of the Philippines, third and fourth respectively in the WAGR, who benefitted from a week of world-class instruction in various aspects of the game.
Malixi, winner of the US Women’s Amateur and US Girls’ Junior Amateur Championship last year, said: “This is certainly giving us an advantage because we’ve learned so much from this Academy. This will help us to grow as people and as players. We can use the lessons we learned when we’re out on the course.”
Also attending the Academy were Malixi’s compatriots Junia Gabasa and Grace Quintanilla, the Vietnamese trio of Nguyen Viet Gai Han, An Le Chuc and Anna Le, Indians Zara Anand and Mannat Brar, the United Arab Emirates duo of Jamie Camero and Intissar Rich, Pakistan’s Parkha Ijaz and Indonesian Thea Jessica Tan.
Australian Gareth Jones, head coach of the Japan National Team, was one of the expert coaches at the Academy. “We have many countries with highly-developed programmes,” Jones said. “But bringing some of the coaching information, the technology, the resources that The R&A have been able to put together is really going to help our next level of countries get to the highest level.”
Follow The R&A on Instagram, Facebook and X.
The R&A