Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific: Kiwi teen duo lead home charge at Royal Wellington

Elise Barber and her father Glen who is on the bag caddying at the WAAP. Photo / R&A

Last week they weren’t even in the draw, but yesterday’s opening round of the Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific (WAAP) saw teenage wildcards Elise Barber and Amy Tang leading the 11-strong Kiwi contingent at Royal Wellington.

For 13-year-old Barber, there was nowhere to hide as the youngest player in the championship led the 84-player field off from the first tee at 10am, surrounded by a strong gallery of fans, photographers and TV cameras. With so much attention on the Queen Margaret College year 9 student – she could have been forgiven for being overawed, but the plucky right-hander with her father Glen as caddy fought back from a two-over-par front nine to post two birdies on the back and card an even-par 72.

“Every minute that went by before I teed off it started getting to me, the nerves,” Barber admitted after her round.

“As my name got called out, a lot of things were running through my head thinking, ‘oh my gosh, it’s the first hole. I’ve got to aim perfectly down the fairway; set myself up for the next shot’.

“I think I got away really nicely – everyone was clapping, so, yeah, I was really happy about that first shot.”

Barber’s score was matched by 15-year-old Tang from Auckland, who only found out five days ago that she, like Barber, was a late invite to the WAAP after a last-minute player withdrawal.

The pair shared a tie for 26th place at the end of the opening day, one shot back from top-ranked Kiwi amateur Eunseo Choi (T17) at one-under and eight shots back from Korean leader Yunseo Yang.

“It was really great having a home crowd supporting me and standing on the tree lines,” Barber beamed after her round.

“Just every shot I had – it was claps here and there, and it felt like I was really supported by them.

“I was able to get tee to green pretty good and able to make a few putts and two putt as well on the fast greens.”

Barber, who had the strongest galleries of all the groups on day one, said she was enjoying the wave of local support following her inclusion in the championship.

“I’m glad that they’ve read about it and they’re out here to support me,” she said.

“My teachers are supporting me – they were always like, ‘good luck, go well’. My friends are definitely cheering me on, texting me like ‘oh, my gosh, how did you go?’

“They’re all really great support and I’m glad to have them by my side.

“This afternoon, I’m definitely going to relax and get the rest of my nerves out and prepare for tomorrow.”

Hong Kong, China’s Arianna Lau sits second on seven-under, one shot behind Yang and two shots clear of Korea’s Seojin Park in third alone at five-under.

Philippines star Rianne Malixi is tied for fourth at four-under after setting the day alight with a chip-in eagle three at the par-5 10th.

Choi is the best of the Kiwis at one-under thanks to a late surge with birdies at the par-4 17th and par-5 18th.

The experienced Vivian Lu, playing in a record sixth WAAP, is the next best home player behind Barber and Tang at one-over and a tie for 33rd, with fellow Kiwis Emma Zheng, Chloe So and Caitlin Maurice tied for 47th at three-over.

The top-50 players and ties will make the cut for the weekend following tomorrow’s second round.

Coverage of the WAAP is live in New Zealand on Sky Sport from 1pm to 4pm NZT.