Fore! Watch out for ST’s golf rookie and hazard Kimberly Kwek

SINGAPORE – Panic set in as I saw Michelle Wie West walking towards the driving range at the Sentosa Golf Club on Monday.

Wie West was going to assess my golf swing and I was a nervous wreck. She is one of the biggest names in golf, the 2014 US Women’s Open champion and a five-time winner on the LPGA Tour, while I had just been reacquainted with golf five lessons ago. What could possibly go wrong?

For some context, my editors told me that I would be learning the basics of golf a few weeks ahead of the March 2-5 HSBC Women’s World Championship and at the end of it, there would be an assessment by a professional golfer.

So over the next three weeks, I embarked on this challenge under the guidance of Sentosa Golf Club instructors Skye Neal and Trent Turner.

In Neal’s studio is an autographed picture of him coaching current world No. 1 Lydia Ko while she was in Singapore for an earlier edition of the HSBC event. 

After the first lesson, it was clear that my golf career would not follow the same trajectory as Ko’s as I sprayed my shots, with some narrowly missing my videographer colleagues who truly deserve a medal for putting their lives on the line for this shoot.

It was a humbling return to the sport that I briefly dabbled in over 10 years ago, and it was compounded by an aching upper body the next day. I realised this challenge was going to be tougher than I had expected.

In the following weeks, I caught world-class golfing action up close as I covered the DP World Tour’s Singapore Classic and watched the players practising ahead of the HSBC Women’s World Championship, gaining a new-found respect for how they hit clean and crisp shots with such consistency.

The feeling of the club striking the ball squarely was extremely satisfying and I soon understood why people play this game.

But unfortunately for me, those shots were rare. For every decent shot I made, the next 50 balls went wayward, leaving me feeling flustered and frustrated.

Neal and Turner were a great help, quick to make adjustments to my swing that produced much better results almost instantaneously. But I struggled to keep that consistency and golf quickly taught me that I was not as patient as I thought.

Professional golfers, on the other hand, are masters of patience. The LPGA professionals make hitting 250-yard drives look effortless, but behind a perfect swing are countless hours of practice and meticulous attention to detail.

Then they are expected to perform in front of throngs of fans and media. I was already panicking with a three-man camera crew and several others watching my assessment.

Thankfully, Wie West and everyone who turned up on the day of the assessment were encouraging and offered nothing but kind words.

There was even a suggestion that maybe with enough practice over the year, I could perhaps take on a new challenge and be part of the pro-am at the 2024 tournament.

But for the sake of everyone’s safety, I think it is better that I stay outside the ropes for now.