Teenage talent Chen Xingtong paves the way for a future generation of Singapore champions.
In a society driven by meritocracy, the question of ‘who’s the best’ looms over every facet of community. In golf, each generation identifies their best players through tournament victories, championship cups hoisted and milestones achieved. When we think about the next generation of elite female golfers, the name Chen Xingtong invariably comes to mind.
The 17-year-old Singaporean is the first female to achieve the coveted grand slam in the local amateur circuit, winning the Singapore National Amateur Championship (SNAC) in 2022 and 2023, the Singapore Open Amateur Championship in 2024 and the Singapore Junior Golf Championship title in 2025. The gravitas of this achievement is further emphasised when you consider that she only started golf in 2018, just four years prior to clinching her first national title. She won her first SNAC title at the tender age of 14.
The Singapore Sports School student also made the international headlines when she became the first Singaporean to reach the finals of the 2025 US Girls’ Junior Championship, a prestigious world-class junior tournament where many of its alumni have gone on to achieve great heights in women’s golf.
Past champions of the event include former World No.1s Inbee Park and Ariya Jutanugarn, and seasoned tour winners like Minjee Lee and Lexi Thompson. Xingtong’s historic charge ended with a 2&1 loss to Canada’s Aphrodite Deng in the 36- hole championship final match.
A member of the Singapore National Squad, the talented amateur has also represented the country in numerous high profile international amateur competitions like the 2025 World Amateur Team Championship and the 2025 SEA Games. The ladies team secured a SEA Games Silver medal, matching the nation’s best team performance since 1991.
This young talent has consistently outplayed most of Singapore’s best female golfers (both amateurs and professionals), dominating the annual local qualifiers for the HSBC Women’s World Championship (HWWC). She earned the coveted right to represent Singapore for three consecutive years, in the 2024, 2025 and 2026 editions of the HWWC held at the Tanjong Course in Sentosa Golf Club.
FIRST GENERATION GOLFER
Xingtong got into sports from a very early age. She tried table tennis at the age of four and then moved on to swimming from the ages of five and nine. She competed in the Singapore National Age Group Championships winning medals in her ‘pet’ events, the 50m and 100m butterfly and backstroke. When the training sessions for swimming got too intense, Xingtong’s father, Chen Fan, got her to try playing golf saying, “My friend introduced her to the sport and gave her a set of golf clubs. We brought her to Warren Country Club and immediately she picked it up very quickly,” Chen senior reveals.
“Most traditional Asian families are very focused on academics, exams and good results. We should not just focus on studies. Sports is also important for her holistic development. For me, I didn’t have a chance to play sports in China, as the priority then was to make a living and to survive.”
Xingtong’s parents moved from China to Singapore in the late 1990s. Chen, a first generation Singaporean shared, “Now we can afford sports and hobbies for the kids. It’s important for them to develop other talents. If she really likes it, we try to give her the opportunity. Sports is important for character development.”
Xingtong who has an older sister, is the only golfer in the family. Though Chen and his wife didn’t set any sporting goals for their daughter, excellence seems a natural part of the equation for the self- driven achiever. Xingtong rapidly fell in love with the game saying, “It was a nice change compared to swimming. I grew to love the sport the more I played it, especially in tournaments. I think the one aspect I really enjoy is making friends,” she shared. When it was highlighted to her that ‘your friends in golf are also often your competitors’, the star golfer shared a glimpse of her game mentality saying, “I mean, technically, I’m only competing against myself.”
ON SELF-DRIVE MODE
Standing tall at 173cm, the junior golfer is known for her prodigious length off the tee, hitting drives that carry more than 250-yards. Her swing is unique and can be described as fluid, powerful and flexible, with a full follow-through motion. She credits her suppleness to her foundational years in swimming.
Arguably, Xingtong’s best attribute might be her mental strength. “I like the mental aspects of the game. Some people like to compete with their flight mates on the course, but that isn’t really my style. I just try to focus on my own processes. I like that it’s not as blatantly competitive as some other sports, you know? Like, you’re just trying to do your best and see how that ends up.
“When I go into tournaments, I don’t like to have result-oriented goals, because that stresses me out too much. For me, it’s mostly about my personal routines and being disciplined in my strategies. I won’t go into a tournament aiming for first place. I feel like if I’m able to complete my other goals well, then the results will come. So, yeah, for me, it’s about competing with myself and not others.”
Murray Smit, National Coach for the SGA shared, “Xingtong has become a very disciplined and self-driven athlete. She now approaches her training, preparation and recovery with maturity and is constantly looking for ways to improve, whether it’s technical work, physical conditioning or mental preparation. She is developing the work ethic, the character and the long-term vision needed to succeed, and we’re excited about the trajectory she’s on.”
IT TAKES MORE THAN A VILLAGE
“I’m grateful to be in the Singapore support system because there is a lot of help given to us,” shared the young standout athlete. She has a 14-club deal with PING through Wingolf, and she also receives support from Titleist and FootJoy for balls, shoes, gloves and apparel. Through the national golfing association, SGA, she receives support in the form of weekly training with the national coaches, gym training, sports psychology sessions and access to high-performance training camps. As an adopted member of the Sentosa Golf Club, she has access to world-class training and playing facilities. The national athlete also receives financial support through SGA and its partners for her training and playing needs.
“There is an EFG scholarship, arranged through SGA, that provides funding support. One special aspect is the personal support of the sponsor. We’re close with Albert (Chiu, Executive Chairman of EFG Bank for Asia Pacific) and Leanne (Sim, Regional Head for Marketing and Communications of EFG Bank). It really helps to know that they support the players for who they are, on a personal level and not just for their talent. There is also support from SportsSG and scholarships like the SOF-Peter Lim Scholarship,” shared a very grateful Xingtong.
“It’s through the SGA that I had so many opportunities to go overseas and compete. I never would have thought I’d go abroad for tournaments, but they were able to send me to a lot of big tournaments. This is the fifth time I’ve competed in the Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific Championship.”
HEAD TO HEAD WITH THE BEST
At the recent 2026 HWWC, the amateur clocked up her best finish at T-60 in a field of the world’s top- ranking professionals. She finished with a 6-over par total score, a major leap up from 21-over par at the 2025 edition of the event. Despite the massive improvement, she described her performance in her third appearance of the event as ‘bittersweet’.
“I’m a bit disappointed as there was a lot more that I could have done,” she said. “It’s good in a way because it shows how much I’ve grown over these three years. If it was my first time playing, I’d be very happy with this result, but right now, not at all. That’s part of growth, I think.”
The challenge to play consistently throughout a tournament remains a goal. “Most tournaments, I have one or two days where it’s pretty good and then the one day where I’m not playing great,” shared Xingtong who played rounds of 70, 72, 79 and 71 on the par 72 course. In assessing her own performance, she reflected maturity and kindness to herself saying, “I think it just comes with more experience as well, just trying to play more. On day three, to be fair, I was feeling a bit under the weather and the heat didn’t help, so I probably didn’t deal with that the best that I could, but, you know, it’s all part of the experience.”
The Gen Z teenager then casually dishes out another simple sagely truth about life, “You just gotta take what life gives you.”
“It was really cool playing with Brooke Henderson (two-time major winner). She was really nice. I don’t think she was playing her best that day, but she stayed calm, managing her way around the course with what was probably her B or even C game.”
The HWWC field also included Singapore’s first golf Olympian and Ladies European Tour (LET) professional, Shannon Tan. Arguably Singapore’s best golfer, male or female, the two-time winner on the LET also holds the tour’s 2025 Order of Merit honours. The 21-year-old trailblazer has taken notice of the 17-year-old prodigy saying, “I’ve played a few rounds with Xingtong over the years and have been following her progress,” Tan remarked. “She’s been doing very well and definitely has great potential. Most importantly, you can tell that she really enjoys the game.”
At the mention of ‘Shannon Tan’, Xingtong runs off excitedly to show me a doll made in the likeness of Shannon that she received the day before. “I think she’s truly inspirational for me. I didn’t really know her, but I always saw her around, even before she went to college in the US and before she got her LET card. It’s inspiring to see a player from Singapore being able to achieve all that she has. I don’t really like to dream about the future, but she gives me a lot of confidence to maybe hope for more things, you know? Before, I wouldn’t have dared to say, ‘Oh, you know, I want to be a professional’ because it’s so tough to make it on the pro circuits, but seeing all that she’s achieved, she’s inspired me to want to at least try to go for something like that. She’s a role model.”
Both Singaporeans were disappointed with their personal performances at this year’s HWWC. In a footnote that offers no consolation to either player, Xingtong finished three shots better than Shannon this year. That said, Shannon still holds the country’s best performance at the HWWC, finishing T34th with a four- day total of even-par in 2025.
SHINE BRIGHT LIKE A STAR
Xingtong speaks with a candid eloquence that reflects both confidence and her well-rounded personality. From ‘trashy novels’ and FC Barcelona to Carlos Alcaraz and Lady Gaga, the teenager’s varied interests extend far beyond golf. On a web call, I asked about the piano in the background only to discover that she also plays the piano, and as you might expect, she plays the instrument proficiently.
Xingtong was in New Zealand for the Women’s Amateur Asia Pacific Championship in mid-February 2026. After a two-day flight delay, she got home in time for the Chinese New Year celebrations, and her focus quickly shifted to HWWC later that month. Slouched on a sofa and looking drained after a high-pressured final round at the HWWC, she shares that she’s behind on her schoolwork. The go-getter is already thinking about the next thing on her very full plate – her school test ‘tomorrow’ and ‘the day after’. Welcome to the frenetic world of an elite student-athlete.
Currently in her second IB year, the teenager hopes to eventually pursue golf and academics in the US collegiate system. The pragmatic golfer keeps it real saying, “I don’t like looking too far into the future, because I can’t predict what’s going to happen. While I think it’ll be cool to be able to make it onto the LPGA, I just try to focus on the present and look to what I’m doing now.”
Xingtong, means ‘red star’ in Mandarin, a name given by her migrant parents with the hope that she would shine like a red star in the sky. As we wait and watch, keep an eye out for this talented amateur. The sky is the limit.
