Choi taps important career post
Doey Choi has tagged many good things in 2018. Photo: DAVE TEASE
An excellent year has won Doey Choi who has reached the benchmark athlete status of Golf Australia.
Sydneysider Choi has gained a wealth of experience this year, including second place on the recently completed 2018 GA Order of Merit, with three wins and four other top-three finishes in national ranking events
She was also the anchor of the dominant women's team of New South Wales that triumphed in the Interstate Series in Adelaide and recently announced as the female athlete of Golf NSW of the year
But it is her work outside those "normal" boundaries of the Australian amateur circuit that has enabled Choi, a member of Concord, to reach the status of benchmark in a row.
Choi finished second in the IMG Academy Junior World Championships in San Diego and was fourth finalist in the Junior Amateur Juniors near Pebble Beach on the same trip from the USA.
She also finished 24th in the ALFG Tour & # 39; s rankings an Australian Ladies Classic in Bonville, which enabled her to meet the criteria.
During that week, Choi played with one of her heroes, LPGA Tour star Christina Kim, and then followed that experience with a couple of rounds with the legendary Laura Davies at the NSW Women & # 39; s Open.
"It has been a great year, now that I have finished high school, I have been able to focus much more on my golf and hopefully show it," Choi said
"This is something I worked on because I grew up looking at Minjee Lee and Su Oh to achieve these things and I really want to follow in their footsteps.
"I can really draw up a better plan for tournaments abroad and make sure that I get things as I want them to be, I am very grateful."
The benchmark athlete status offers additional benefits for Choi on top of the existing support via Golf NSW.
In addition to a series of extra benefits, she receives a stipend for travel to international tournaments, more money for coaching fees and sports science expenses and a subsidy for playing professional events.
Golf Australia's high-performance director Brad James was enthusiastic about Choi's progress and to be able to help her future development.
"Together with all the other high-performance squadron members in the state program around Australia, Doey is already receiving funding and other home base support," James said.
"In this case, her benchmark status is an extra support on top of that of the Golf NSW program.
"She has a huge school year and we are pleased to see that Doey is taking the next step in her career."
See www.golf.org.au/hp-program and www.golf.org.au/selectionpolicies for more information about Golf Australia's high performance program.
