Singapore, February 7: The Singapore Golf Association (SGA) has unveiled its 46 squad members for 2024, in a ceremony held at the Singapore Island Country Club (SICC) on Wednesday.
Consisting of the country’s top male and female amateur golfers, these players have been selected through their own merit while others were identified through other key selection criteria that includes performance, attitude and mental fortitude.
As the rising stars and faces of Singapore golf, they will be given the opportunities to fulfil their potential and improve Singapore’s performances on the international stage. All squad members will also receive enhanced tailored programme of support, including additional high performance training and competition opportunities, either locally or abroad.
The men’s national squad will feature Ryan Ang, Hiroshi Tai and Brayden Lee, who has been promoted from the development squad. Alyosa Atienza, Chen Xingtong, Inez Ng and Hailey Loh- the first Singaporean golfer to win a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) conference championship last April, make up the women’s squad.
15-year-old Chen, who clinched her first international victory at the 48th Peugeot Selangor Amateur Open last year and will be teeing up at next month’s HSBC Women’s World Championship after winning the National Qualifiers, said: “It’s definitely an honour to be part of the National squad and I’ll do my best to repay the faith SGA has placed on me.”
Eight other players, aged 18 and under, will feature in the Junior National Squad. They are Daryl Loh, Troy Storm, Aaron Wee, Bruce Kwong, Jaymie Ng, Jillian Kuk, Valencia Chang and Passion Hsu.
9 members from the development squad, who will undergo regular advanced level testing and scoring, will form the rest of the national squad. They include Irvyn Tan, Ethan Lim, Ryan Wong, Sean Pang, Yu Shang, Shayne Lim, Guo Jun Xi, Aamiya Koul and Denise Ng.
Murray Smit, National coach said: “I am extremely excited about the National and newly formed Junior National squads for the first half of 2024. We introduced a new high performance pyramid last year, which governs the selection of the team, with the idea to create more competition from within for places and to create more opportunities for promising young players to filter through.
We have some lofty goals for the year ahead, specifically with regard to the South East Asian Amateur Golf Team Championship which Singapore will be hosting. The main focus though, is to continuously improve our culture, discipline, work ethic and overall training environment and this will ultimately lead to the type of results that we are looking for.”
Tim Pinnegar, Chairperson of SGA Training and Development Committee added: “Every member in our national squads duly deserve their place thanks to their progression and performances to date. SGA will provide them with the necessary support and playing opportunities to ensure they continue to develop their game.”
The 2024 SGA tournament schedule will include high profile events like the second edition of the Hana Financial Group Singapore Women’s Open in March and the South East Asian Amateur Golf Team Championship scheduled to be held at the Seletar Country Club in July. The newly-launched SGA-BFG Junior Golf Series will also provide junior golfers with further opportunities to develop their potential in several golf courses across Singapore.
National Squad (7)
Men
Hiroshi Tai
Ryan Ang
Brayden Lee
Girls
Inez Ng
Chen Xingtong
Hailey Loh
Aloysa Atienza
Junior National Squad (18 years and under) (8)
Men
Daryl Low
Troy Storm
Aaron Wee
Bruce Kwong
Girls
Jaymie Ng
Jillian Kuk
Valencia Chang
Passion Hsu
Development Squad (9)
Men
Irvyn Tan
Ethan Lim
Ryan Wong
Sean Pang
Girls
Yu Shang
Shayne Lim
Guo Jun Xi
Aamiya Koul
Denise Ng
Junior Development Squad (15)
Boys
Kok Kian Foo
Rico Ang
Umar Elffy
Ryan Chiang
Kyan Koh
Nigel Seah
Dylan Chua
Cody Ng
Girls
Chloe Ng
Kimiko Ang
Amelie Ng
Madison Chui
Seychelles Lim
Anjanette Tan
Temperance Tan
Holding Squad (7)
* male squad members who are currently serving their National Service
Men
Sean Lee
Zachary Ong
Ng Wei Jun
Nathen Tan
Eng Wei Jin
Justin Kuk
Brandon Han