Ryan Chisnall has experience on his side

By Paul Gueorgieff
Editor Golfer Pacific NZ
Ryan Chisnall is the oldest of the 10 players to represent New Zealand at the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship.
Chisnall is aged 23 but with his seniority comes experience and he is hopeful that could prove a factor in his favour for one of the world’s most important amateur golf tournaments.
The Asia-Pacific Amateur this year takes on great importance for New Zealand with it being held in this country for the first time. It is being hosted by the Royal Wellington Golf Club.
Chisnall has already played in two Asia-Pacific Amateurs. The first was in 2015 when he finished 35th at Hong Kong. The second was in Korea last year when he finished 45th.
They were not fantastic results but Chisnall believes he can build on them.
“The last couple of years I haven’t played overly well which is disappointing,’’ Chisnall recalled to Golfer Pacific.
“Hopefully this year I can go a bit better.’’
“Every year that goes by you get more and more experienced. Having the confidence that you know that you are able to compete is a lot higher now for me.’’
The Asia-Pacific Amateur has only been in existence for eight years but it has quickly risen to a world class event. For example the winner at Royal Wellington next month gets a start in two of golf’s majors for professionals — the US Masters and the British Open.
“It’s a pretty awesome event,’’ Chisnall said.
“It takes a few years to get used to all the attention and obviously with an invite to The Masters it creates a real buzz.
“It does take a couple of years to get used to, because there is so much going on. For us to play an event like this where they pour so much money into it, is kind of surreal.
“As amateurs you are used to normal amateur events where there is nobody out watching. This is a different beast, that’s for sure.’’
Despite the enormity of the tournament, Chisnall said it was not nerve-wracking for him.
“Excitement is more the word I like to use. You just want to get out there and play.
“At the end of the day you just have to treat it the same as any other event and stick to your processes.’’
That excitement for Chisnall is mounting.
“For me, the last few months I have had so much on. I haven’t had time to think about it. But now all my preparation and lead-ups is targeting that event, so it is starting to become more of an excitement.
“But it is good though because it gets you out of bed nice and early in the morning. You have something to strive for.’’
Chisnall played three important amateur events in the United States during our winter.
He finished 20th in two of them and 23rd in the other. They were very creditable results.
“I played reasonably well. It was kind of a mixed bag but there was a lot of positives to take away from them as well.’’
Chisnall is from Nelson and is familiar with the Royal Wellington course.
“Obviously my game has been trending in the right direction for the last couple of years. Experience does play a big part but having a bit of local knowledge will help as well.
“I haven’t played the course a lot but I know it well enough.’’
Chisnall will attend qualifying school at the end of the year for the Australasian PGA Tour but will not turn professional just for the sake of it.
“I’m not going to turn pro unless I have got decent status on a tour.
“I’m just kind of happy playing the game — my love of game is so big. I’ll take whatever I get from it.
“Obviously I want to play of the PGA Tour, everyone’s ambition is to play on the PGA Tour.’’
If there’s anyone that provides him with inspiration for a professional career, it’s fellow New Zealander Ryan Fox.
Chisnall admires the progress Fox has made as a pro.
“Just seeing what Foxy has been able to do in the last couple of months has been amazing.
“I played a lot of amateur golf with him when I was really young. He was obviously a decent player but he was no world beater as an amateur.
“There is a lot of positives to take from that and a lot of inspiration from it.’’