Yang bids Gold Coast a fond farewell
BY Bruce Young | ALPG Tour | 2008 ANZ Ladies Masters | General | 06 Feb 2008
18-year-old Amy Yang has fond memories of the ANZ Masters and the Gold Coast but at the completion of this event she and her family will look to buy a place in Orlando in Florida as she establishes a base that will assist in the development of her professional career.
With her time at the Robina State High School over, having gained her HSC there over the last three years, Yang’s visa to study in Australia has expired. With a full Ladies European Tour campaign ahead of her in 2008, she will use the US as her base in between the events she will play in Europe and the occasional event she will get to play in the US on the limited status she has on the LPGA Tour.
Yang gained one of the last conditional cards at the recent LPGA Tour School, a disappointing result give the expectations she and others had on the result. She is a fine talent, however, as her win two years ago at the ANZ Ladies Masters at the tender age of 16 would testify. Her subsequent impressive finishes in other events, while still attending high school, is an indication of just how far she could go in the game.
In the meantime her first task is to improve on her missed cut last year in this event, twelve months after winning in a playoff over Catherine Cartwright.
“I think the golf course is still very wet,” she said after her pro am round at the event today “but the greens are very good.”
“I feel now I am a far more experienced player now than I was two years ago and have been working on my course management and the mental side of the game with my mother. I am getting less angry on the golf course with her help,” she added.
Yang’s grasp of the English language has improved considerably and she no longer appears to get caught in the media headlights when being asked questions.
One of Yang’s most impressive performances in 2007 was when she was the lone qualifier for the US Women’s Open in Hawaii and then went on to make the cut in the event.
Her brilliant late burst at the Australian Women’s Open last week to finish fourth behind Webb, Shin and Reid suggests she could again do well at Royal Pines this week.
