New Zealand second in Queen Sirikit Cup
New Zealand second in Queen Sirikit Cup
New Zealand finished second in the 42nd Queen Sirikit Cup, an Asia-Pacific amateur team championship for women.
The Kiwi side of Vivian Lu (Royal Auckland and Grange), Fiona Xu (Titirangi), and Eunseo Choi (Takapuna) were looking to get their hands on a trophy that hasn’t been on New Zealand shores since 1999.
Caption: Fiona Xu who was the top New Zealand performer at the Queen Sirikit Cup in Singapore last month. She was 10th in the individual standings. The New Zealand team finished second
The best two scores of the trio count towards the team total and it was Choi and Xu that had the two-counting scores on final day.
They scored even par (Choi) and one over (Xu) meaning New Zealand finished on 13 under par for the four-day tournament held last month at the Laguna National Golf Resort Club in Singapore. Japan had five under par as a team on the final day to finish on 20 under par for the tournament.
Choi led the Kiwis out of the gate and played solidly on her front nine, making eight pars and a birdie at the par far seventh.
The New Zealand debutant opened with a couple of pars on the 10th and 11th before making a two on the par three 12th. Choi then hit a couple of speed bumps, bogeying three of her next four holes to fall to one over. However, she struck back at the 17th with another birdie.
Choi finished 18th on the individual leaderboard after rounds of 72, 79, 71, and 72.
Xu got her final round off to a fast start, making back-to-back birdies at the opening two holes. The reigning Australian Amateur champion made a bogey at six and made the turn in one under par.
Xu bogeyed 11 and 13 to fall to one over for the day, and Japan began to stretch it's lead. Xu made a birdie at 17 and a bogey at 18. In the individual standing she finished in a tie for 10th at one-under, with rounds of 70, 69, 75, and 73.
Lu had the non-counting score of 81 on the final day.
Lu was in contention for the individual honours after shooting 72 and a pair of 68s in rounds two and three to be at eight-under and share second. She was 13th after four days.