Hong Kong team heads to Thailand looking to build on golf’s elite year, Wong among new generation chasing glory
- Six-strong squad, including 12-year-old Sabrina Wong, will compete in Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific Championship this week
- Head coach Tim Tang says there is a ‘buzz around’ the sport in Hong Kong after athletes secured Tier A status in 2023
After a big year in 2023 sealed golf’s place among Hong Kong’s elite sports, some of the city’s top amateurs begin their season in Thailand on Thursday looking to cement that status.
The Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific Championship gets under way on the Waterside Course at Siam Country Club, with a team of six, lead by last year’s third place finisher Sophie Han, taking on the likes of defending champion Eila Galitsky and runner-up Minsol Kim.
Han and Arianna Lau did as much as anybody to propel golf to Tier A status at the Hong Kong Sports Institute from 2025, finishing as runners up at the IMG Junior World Championship and combining to win the team event at the same tournament.
The pair will be joined in Pattaya by Siuue Wu and Hoi Ki-lau, as well as relative newcomers Sabrina Wong and Angela Yin.
Tim Tang, the head coach of the Golf Association of Hong Kong, China, said there was “a buzz around” the city’s players as they headed into the new season.
While Taichi Kho, who won gold at the Asian Games last September and begins his second year on the Asian Tour in two weeks, is the city’s most prominent player, its amateurs are the bedrock, and in delivering his yearly report to the association, Tang highlighted how far the game had progressed over the past 12 months.
