Aussie team named after WAAP

Doey Choi at the 2019 ISPS Handa Women & # 39; s Australian Open.

Six budding young stars of golf this year have been named after the Australian team for the Women Amateur Asia Pacific Championships in Japan

The team, announced today, includes three automatic submissions from the world amateur rankings – Victorian Julienne Soo, 21, who waves as a collegiate golfer in the United States, Youth Olympic gold medalist Grace Kim, 18, from New South Wales, and Queenslander Rebecca Kay, 20, who qualified for the Queensland Open last year.

The three extra players for the event in April are Doey Choi, 19, (NSW), Stephanie Kyriacou, 18, (NSW) and Maddison Hinson-Tolchard, 17, (WA). At stake is not only the coveted championship, but also invitations for two major professional championships for the eventual winner.

Choi, who plays at Concord Golf Club in the west of Sydney, has won four state amateur titles, including two last year, and recently won the ISPS Handa Women's Australian Open at The Grange in Adelaide.

Kyriacou is from St Michael's Golf Club in Sydney and last year was a NSW striker champion.

Hinson-Tolchard is the reigning Australian junior champion who loves Choi, recently played in The Grange.

Grace Kim said that she & # 39; absolutely stoked & # 39; was to earn a spot in the Australian team, which will be coached by Rebecca Blain of the New South Wales Golf Club and is run by Stacey Peters, the female national trail manager of Golf Australia

"It's a big deal and always an honor," Kim said. "There is a good group of girls on the road and I can not wait until we show the countries we exist!"

"This tournament is a big one in the agenda for us, girls, because female golfers from all Asian countries come for one big event in one course and the winner gets some good starts, so this event is huge for me!"

Kim said the location was perfect, because in the longer term she planned to follow Queenslander Karis Davidson, a former Australian top talent who has become professional and plays on the Japanese tour. "I want to follow the similar path to her, so I am excited to get a lot out of this upcoming journey and to make myself somewhat familiar with the courses, the environments, the atmosphere of Japan, so I am really looking forward to it!"

Hinson-Tolchard said that recent experiences in professional tournaments would help her in Japan. "I am so excited to be selected as part of the Asian Am Aussie team," she said. "I'm confident in my game and after my experiences at the Vic Open and Women's Australian Open I feel like I can compete for titles at the highest level of amateur golf, I think this event will be a real test but it is good for us to see where we are honest among the best amateurs in the world. "

Peters said she was happy with the selected team. "We will finish a great series of events for these girls, so we will certainly not be long enough to prepare for the tournament," she said. "With the big exceptions that are offered, this is a huge event for our girls because we know what doors can open to victory in this event, we know how much the Japanese public loves to support women's golf, so I feel that the atmosphere is going to be fantastic. "

The 2019 Women's Amateur Asia Pacific is run by the R & A and is played at the Royal Golf Club, northeast of Tokyo, from April 25 to 28. It is the second WAAP event, the inauguration tournament won last year by Thailand's Atthaya Thitikul in Singapore.

The winner deserves invitations to play in two major championships – the AIG Women & # 39; s British Open and the ANA Inspiration, as well as an exemption for the Augusta National Women & # 39; s Amateur.