Training stint tees off at National Golf Academy

Apart from being the leisure and golfing destination of choice for many people in Taiwan, the National Golf Country Club is also the ideal training venue for many of the country’s promising golfers with its world-class facilities and championship course.

On March 1, the National Golf academy hosted the national golf team with the aim of unearthing the future generation and golfing stars of tomorrow. That is also the vision of Roy Wu, General Manager of National Golf Country Club, who officiated the opening ceremony.

As part of the club’s commitment to nurture these young talents, it also appointed Zeng Xiufeng, a multiple Tour winner in Japan and Asia, as the head coach of the National Golf academy in February 2020.

Zeng has been tasked to oversee the development of the players with the goal of winning several tournaments, both domestically and internationally including the Taiwan Youth Cup.

The National Golf Academy held a training team recruitment exercise where a total of 32 people including 14 players and 18 candidates attended at the end of January 2021. The 14 players include Tingwei Tse, Liao Chonghan, Chen Shoucheng, Huang Kaijun, Qiu Zirui, Kong Deshu, Tan Jiesheng, Wang Shangyi, Li Xu, Wu Youting, Wu Youni, Chen Tingyi, Zhang Tingyu, Chen Peilin.

Lin Jieen, Liu Aijie, Bai Xianghe, Liu Aiquan, Zheng Kaixin, Zheng Yixin, Weng Zhen, He Shaofu, Tian Chengyun, Chen Kaixiang, Li Xi, Xu Chengan, Wu Chengyuan, Lin Shangyi, Lu Dou, Xin Yiwei, Xie Yichen, Wu Chenggang are among the 18 candidates.

Wu said: "We are recruiting more players to join our training teams including youths under the age of thirteen as we want to provide them with a competitive environment to train. With the experience and mentorship of our coaching staff, we hope they can improve and develop their potential.

Zeng will lead a six-member coaching team made up of professional players and professional coaches. They include Chen Ruisheng, Yu Zhengyan, Chen Xuan, Lin Guanting, Lin Zonghan, and Zhong Lixin.

At the opening ceremony, Zeng asked all the players, parents, and coaches to write down their goals for this year as he hopes to help them achieve them by the end of the year.

Zeng said: "It is very important for players to set goals and targets. We managed to achieve some of 2020 goals including winning the Taiqing Cup, which is the biggest team prize.Hopefully everyone can do their best to achieve their goals this year!"

Chen Tingchen, an undergraduate of the National Tsinghua University, was very grateful to National Golf Country Club for providing the facilities and coaches for her to train and practice golf without any worries.

Chen said: “At the academy, we were taught to play with an open mind instead of sticking to the same routine all the time. The change in mindset has allowed me to improve my performance.”

Kong Deshu, a national trainer currently studying at an American university, said: "The venue, course conditions and green speed at National Golf Country Club are very similar to those abroad. I’m very happy to be given the opportunity to train on the course here.”

Weng Zheng, a rookie to the national training team, said: "Playing golf has allowed me to develop myself mental strength. I am also looking forward to learning how to be more patient and achieve my goals with my fellow players from the training team!"