Eighteen-year-old Chan, a product of the Hong Kong Golf Association's junior development programme, put her professional counterparts in the shade as she coasted down the closing stretch to a two-shot victory at the Yinli Foreign Investors' Golf Club.
Opening with back-to-back rounds of 69, the former Diocesan Girls' School student, who is heading to the United States in January to continue her education, saw off the challenge of Chinese Taipei's Yu Pei-Lin, the current leader of the Ladies Asian Golf Tour's money list, and a string of China LPGA Tour pros to take home the silverware.
"It was nice to play as well as I did," said Chan, Hong Kong's leading female amateur over the past few years. "I have a lot of experience now, playing against pros and amateurs from all over the world, so I wasn't too nervous. But to be able to shoot two rounds under par against what was a strong field was very satisfying."
As an amateur, Chan was unable to accept the winner's share of the HK$600,000 prize purse however, with the second-placed Yu taking the cash, if not the trophy. Chan's international amateur teammates, Kitty Tam and Michelle Cheung, finished the event in ninth and 10th place respectively.
In the men's division, former UBS Hong Kong Open winner Lin Wen-Tang of Chinese Taipei had to settle for second place behind his compatriot Lin Keng-Chi, who finished with a 10-under-total of 278. Hong Kong's Timothy Tang, an Asian Tour regular, placed fourth, while James Stewart, who opened with a fine 65, finished fifth.
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