Plotting Past The Potholes Of Professional Golf

Singapore’s Amanda Tan two years on speaks of lessons learned

- Natasha Wong & Ken Lye

When a serious hobby like golf becomes your job, it turns into a different animal. Suddenly, you’re no longer just playing for a trophy or amateur-ranking points. People are now paying to watch you play and companies are backing you with equipment and financial support. The stakes are now much higher - every stroke bears down and making the cut can make or break your weekend, let alone your career.

20-year old Amanda Tan is well acquainted with the rollercoaster of emotions that comes along with playing golf for a living. 2017 was her rookie year, and the Singaporean golf professional played the China LPGA Tour, bagging her maiden professional victory at the BridgeCC CLPGA Beijing Heritage. Later that year, Amanda finished tied 4th at the Sanya Ladies Open, a co-sanctioned Ladies European Tour event. By the end of her rookie season, the Singaporean had climbed up to 5th place on the CLPGA Tour’s Order of Merit Ranking. Chen Yu, a name she is also known by on the CLPGA tour, is Singapore’s first and only female to win a professional event on tour. Since then, the going has been tough.

Speaking with Golf Asia, Amanda Tan candidly shares about the challenges of life as a touring golf professional. The self-confessed golf fanatic speaks of the invaluable lessons she’s taken away from the first two years of her career, her highs and her lows, and how she plans to make a comeback.

Turn Of The Tide

Almost as soon as she finished basking in the success of her fairytale rookie year, the golf prodigy’s career took a downturn to hit rock bottom in 2018. It began with 2 missed cuts and in spite of a top 20 finish at the 2018 CTBC Classic, her performance for the season was lackluster.