SINGAPORE – The year 2024 was supposed to mark Aloysa Atienza’s professional golf debut. However, those plans are now on hold after sub-par performances in 2023.
Her golf career may have hit a speed bump, but the 25-year-old believes that the Singapore Golf Association’s (SGA) revamped training structure will put her in good stead to achieve her goal at the end of 2024.
While Atienza, who won a SEA Games silver medal in 2022, had previously trained mostly on her own, she will be able to complement that with SGA’s training programme this year.
Speaking to The Straits Times at the unveiling of the SGA’s 46 squad members at the Singapore Island Country Club on Feb 7, she said: “I decided to delay (turning pro by) one year and stick to the training structure that SGA has implemented.
“They revamped the whole training structure and I feel more confident.
“With the new national coach (Murray Smit) coming in April 2023, he has a slightly different style of running the training sessions and for the past year I have seen improvements in my game.”
Atienza is part of SGA’s four-member women’s national squad announced on Feb 7, which includes 15-year-old Chen Xingtong, Inez Ng and Hailey Loh, who last April became the first Singaporean golfer to win a National Collegiate Athletic Association conference championship.
The men’s three-member national squad comprises Ryan Ang, Hiroshi Tai and Brayden Lee, who has been promoted from the development squad.
They are part of the 2024 national set-up – from the junior development to national squads – who have been selected through merit and other criteria such as performance, attitude and mental fortitude.
An enhanced programme, including additional training and competition opportunities locally or abroad, will help players in their development, said the SGA.
The national sports association has also revamped its structure for the development of golfers. Layered in a six-tier pyramid, the first level consists of the future squad (maximum of 50 members), followed by the junior development squad (16), development squad (10), junior national squad (eight), national squad (eight) and SGA professional programme.
Young talent will be identified for the future squad, with the players then advancing through the different tiers as the SGA aims to nurture golfers for its professional programme, and for them to eventually turn pro.
Selection for all squads will be done throughout the year and players have to compete in multiple tournaments to rack up points.
With no major Games action in 2024, Singapore’s golfers can look forward to July’s Putra Cup held at the Seletar Country Club.
National coach Smit believes that it will be a good test for the team. He said: “It’s not a year when we necessarily have a lot of massive events, so the Putra Cup will be a good barometer to see how we do against rivals from South-east Asia.”
National squad member Xingtong will be getting a sterner test in a few weeks.
The Singapore Sports School student recently aced the national qualifier to earn her ticket to the HSBC Women’s World Championship at the Sentosa Golf Club from Feb 29 to March 3.
She said: “I’m hoping I’ll be able to play my best golf that week and not make a fool of myself. I’ve got exams the week of HSBC, but golf takes priority.”
As the squad gear up for the year ahead, Smit is also keeping an eye on the 2025 SEA Games in Thailand.
Noting that anything aside from a medal would be “selling themselves short”, he added: “There’s no doubt we’re gonna go to those tournaments with the ambition to win medals, and ideally winning gold medals.”
