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GOLF TEACHING PRO%u00ae 50 WINTER 2O26STORIES FROM AROUND THE WORLD SINGAPOREMay I take this opportunity to wish all of you a very Happy New Year 2026. Firstly, there is exciting good news from ladies golf in Singapore. Singaporean professional golfer Shannon Tan, 21 years old, has won her second Ladies European Tour title at the Amundi German Masters 2025. Showing maturity and good mental strength, she was able to finish off the last testy par putt on the 18th green in a nail biting finish to claim her second LET title with a total score of 283. In doing so, she became the first female Singaporean golfer to have reached the top 100 golfer%u2019s list in the Rolex Women%u2019s World Golf Rankings. She also became the first local female player to make the cut at the British Open in 2024 and 2025, an achievement that all Singaporeans can be proud of.Shannon%u2019s win certainly has inspired many young lady golfers to dream big. She has shown to all of us that, to succeed, we need to have the heart and the courage to take up the challenges, giving full dedication to one%u2019s golfing goals and to follow our passion. The impossible is always possible.From the men%u2019s side, Hiroshi Tai became the first Singaporean golfer to compete in the U.S. Open in 2024 and the Masters in 2025. Well done and congratulations.The Singapore Golf Association%u2019s mission to develop young golfers has also played a key role in creating and sustaining interest in golf. The SGA already has a center of excellence, where the national and youth teams are given opportunities to train on various golf courses.On another positive note, sowing the golfing seeds at the grassroots level, to schools and public events, is extremely important. With this in mind, GolfWav owner and professional Melvin Chen and I were extremely excited to say %u201cyes%u201d to Decathlon when they decided to host the biggest Sports Festival in Singapore. Thirty different sports were represented in one focused location at Kallang Sports Hub. At least 15,000 sports enthusiasts took the trouble to participate in the two-day event, and there was an air of festivities throughout the day.The interest generated was amazing, with super long queues at most of the booths . Many waited patiently under the scorching sun. Amongst the crowd, you could sense the excitement coming from both the adults and kids. With simple golf props set up, assisted by Ivana Kamaljit and the event team, the participants were given the rare opportunity to try their hands on putting and making a mini golf swing. Professional guidance was provided from Melvin and myself, and we attended to the Q and A. There were flyers for golf promotional packages for beginners to kick off their interest.On this note, we have done very well to connect and NEWS FROM SINGAPOREBy John Wee Chong Lee, USGTF Member