KUALA LUMPUR: The stage is set for an intriguing clash between rising talents and established players from across the region in the inaugural Maybank Championship Southeast Asian Qualifier which tees off at Kuala Lumpur Golf & Country Club (KLGCC) tomorrow.
The 35-player field comprises professionals and leading amateurs from the Asean region who will pit their skills against each other over what promises to be two exciting rounds at KLGCC's renowned West Course.
They will all be highly motivated to finish in the top-five and earn a place in the LPGA Tour's US$3 million (RM13 million) Maybank Championship on October 24-27.
Thailand leads the international count with eight players (seven professionals and one amateur), followed by Indonesia with seven (five professionals and two amateurs).
Players to look out for from these two nations include Thailand's Wassawan Sangkapong, the highest ranked professional in the field with a Rolex Women's World Golf Ranking of 472, and Kristina Natalia Yoko, who is Indonesia's second-highest ranked lady amateur with a World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR) of 265.
Also in the field is Singapore's golf prodigy Chen Xingtong, who made headlines last month by becoming the youngest ever winner of the Singapore Open Amateur Championship at age 15.
Hosts Malaysia boast the largest contingent with 19 entries, comprising 11 professional golfers and eight of the nation's leading amateurs. The professionals include experienced campaigners Aretha Pan, Dianne Luke, Genevieve Ling, Michelle Koh and Nur Durriyah Damian along with Singapore-based teaching professional Shareen Lai who at age 46 is the oldest player in the field.
They will be joined by the next generation of Malaysian professionals comprising Jocelyn Chee, Lana Aswadi, Nur Syazani Amalia, Geraldine Wong and Qistina Balqis.
The Malaysian amateur line-up includes teenage talent Ng Jing Xuen, winner of the women's individual gold medal at last year's Southeast Asian Games in Cambodia, and a bronze medallist at the recent Sarawak Malaysia Games.
Another player to look out for is Winnie Ng Yu Xuan, who has been on a hot streak recently with victories in the Malaysian Ladies Amateur Open, RSGC Ladies Amateur Open and the ladies' event of the Supra Cup on the domestic professional circuit.
Malaysia's Liyana Durisic, fresh off a standout senior year with Iowa State University on the U.S. collegiate golf circuit, is the highest-ranked amateur in the field at 129th position on the WAGR.
Rounding off the Malaysian challenge are amateurs Pang Hee Jie, Alya Afza, Zulaikah Nasser, Allycia Gan and Tan Ying Ying.