Chip Shots: Chen Making the Most of Time in China
September 7, 2020 | Women's Golf
Blog
Siyan Chen has been in China since May competing on the China LPGA Tour and interning at China Mobile. She wrote about her summer below.
Related
• Aug. 13 - Chen Finishes Fifth in China's National Amateur Tour Leg 1
• Aug. 21 - Chen Finishes in Third at China LPGA Event
• Sept. 4 - Chen Has Another Successful China LPGA Outing, Finishes as Low Am
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Hi Illini Nation!
Time has passed so quickly; I can't believe I have been back home in China for more than five months. My time home has been very busy and very productive. There have been challenges for me as well as my teammates, but there have also been many opportunities for us to grow both as people and as athletes. For me personally, I have had many wonderful experiences that were not part of my original summer plans.
Once the spring semester ended in May and Covid-19 restrictions were lifted in China, I went to a golf course in my hometown and stayed there for two weeks to practice. During that time, I didn't know when tournaments in China would resume. My main focus was to improve my swing and all aspects of my short game. In mid-June, there was an announcement that amateur tournaments would resume at the end of the month. I applied to the first tournament which was the Super Lychee Golf Series – Huzhou. After practicing at the golf course for two weeks, I felt really prepared for the tournament. I was one shot behind the leader heading into the final round. My main goal was to focus on my own game and take it one shot at a time. I shot 67 in the final round and won the tournament by two shots, finishing at eight under par with rounds of 71-70-67. Winning the event gave me a lot of confidence for my upcoming tournaments. All my practicing was working.
During the month of July, I had the opportunity to complete an internship with China Mobile. Interning for China Mobile was a great experience as I was assigned various projects to help grow their internship program. Two of my most memorable tasks were calling over 400 people to recruit more interns and writing an introduction article that included photos I took while visiting one of their retail stores.
I really enjoyed my internship, but I was ready to start competing again. The third week of August I played in my third professional and CLPGA event which was the Zhuhai Hollywood Mansion Challenge. The start of tournament was delayed due to the hurricane causing the event to be shortened to 36 holes. I shot 71-64 to finish third and was the low amateur. My round of 64 on the last day is my new personal best! August was a busy month for golf. Following the Zhuhai Hollywood Mansion Challenge, I played in the Moutai Co,.Ltd Golf Liquor Zhuhai Golden Gulf Challenge which is CLPGA event. I shot 75-68-75 to finish T16. Then, I played in another CLPGA event, the MITSUBISHI Heavy Industries· Orient Masters where I shot 72-71-70 to finish T6. I was the low amateur again. These three professional tournaments provided me with many learning opportunities. I can see that compared to other good professional players I still need to improve my distance. I also learned that under some circumstances a bogey is acceptable. If I think too much or try too hard to save par, sometimes I end up with a worse result.
I hope everyone is staying safe and healthy during this difficult time. I can't wait to tee it up for the Fighting Illini again!
