S’pore’s Anne Fernandez takes swing at collegiate golf as she heads to Auburn University

SINGAPORE – It did not take Anne Fernandez long to figure out that she wanted to make a career out of golf.

At the age of 12, she moved over 17,000km away from Singapore to the Bahamas with her older sister Margaret, after being offered a scholarship at the Albany Academy.

After five years there under the tutelage of coach Jon Hearn – whose charges include former world No. 1 Justin Rose – Anne is headed to the United States where she will enrol in Auburn University in September 2024.

The Alabama-based university became an obvious choice for the junior at Windsor School, after she spoke to head coach Melissa Luellen.

The chance to compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I – the highest level of college competition in the United States – was also why Anne picked Auburn.

“When I was in Singapore, I always thought that the US was out of reach and then I moved when I was 12 and I started seeing that opportunity was available,” said the 17-year-old, who will be on a full athletic scholarship at Auburn.

“College golf is really good because a lot of people rush to go into the LPGA or PGA.

“But, when you’re in college and in a very good school like Auburn and you’re surrounded by girls who share a common goal of being the best golfer in college or trying to go to the LPGA, you get motivated because it can be very hard on your own.”

While leaving home came with its challenges as she felt homesick in the first year away, living with her sister – who is now a second-year student at Indiana University – in the Bahamas also taught Anne to be independent and is an experience that she does not regret.

She said: “When I left my primary school, a lot of people said, ‘Oh my god, you still haven’t taken your PSLE’ but it was definitely an opportunity I did not miss.

“It came out of nowhere – I got a scholarship there and it came about just before my PSLE which was very last minute because I had to tell my school I’m not going to be in Singapore any more.

“My mum had to pull my sister and I out of school, but it’s the best decision she has ever made for me.

“Living away from home and doing it on your own, there are days when you’re not as motivated.

“But on the days when I’m on season and when it all clicks, when all your hard work pays off, it’s good.”

In 2022, Anne won three world amateur golf ranking junior events in the US. In 2023, she got her first taste of the professional scene as she competed as an amateur at the Ladies European Tour’s Aramco Team Series Singapore in March.

At the Hero World Challenge in December, Anne had the chance to watch golf stars like Tony Finau, Max Homa, Viktor Hovland and Collin Morikawa up close as she was a walking scorer at the event in the Bahamas.

All these experiences have only served as motivation for Anne, who has her sights set on playing on the LPGA one day.

She also hopes to win on the men’s Tour.

She said: “They should do more tournaments (Scandinavian Mixed where Sweden’s Linn Grant became the first woman to win an official event on the DP World Tour in 2022) like that because that just pushes both games in the right direction.”