Genevieve eyes LET card

THE 2025 season might be done and dusted for many professional players, but not all. For some there is still qualifying school to negotiate – the intense process of trying to get playing rights for next season.

Genevieve had two top-fives in her last two events on the Taiwan LPGA Tour. — Courtesy photo

And for Genevieve Ling, who has enjoyed a rather rewarding 2025 campaign, she turns her attention to a bid to secure playing rights on the Ladies European Tour (LET) next year. Set for Marrakech, Morocco, the Pre-Qualifier is scheduled from Wednesday through Friday, and the Final Qualifier scheduled from Dec 16 to 20, 2025.

One of Malaysia’s leading women’s professional players, Genevieve told TeeUp she was looking forward to the challenge ahead and prepared as best as she could.

With two victories on the local Professional Golf of Malaysia (PGM) Tour this year and no fewer than four top-five finishes on the Taiwan Ladies Professional Golf Association (TLPGA) Tour, Genevieve has strung together some of her finest golf since turning pro in 2017.

The Subang resident added that she took a different approach to her game this year and it seems to have paid off somewhat.

Following are excerpts from the interview:

Q: You’ve found some strong form lately, capped by that 4th-place finish at the recent 2025 Sampo Ladies Open. How satisfying was that, and does it feel like a payoff for the work you’ve been putting in?

A: Most definitely. Golf is one of those funny games where sometimes hard work feels like it’s not rewarded. But I’ve always believed in putting in the work and doing the best that I can every day, and God-willing, allowing the results to come on the course by itself.

Q: You’ve posted four top-five finishes on the TLPGA this season, including those back-to-back showings in your last two events. How would you sum up your campaign in Taiwan so far?

A: In terms of results, my best season on the TLPGA so far. I haven’t been able to play all the events – such as the limited field ones which tend to have higher prize funds – but I have been able to place well on the Order of Merit for the year, which is something I’m proud to be able to do. Golf in Taiwan is always really challenging with the course conditions as well as the conditions in general – the wind, temperatures, etc. – so I think it is a great place to compete and hone my skills.

Q: You showed real promise early at the Maybank Championship, even if it didn’t finish quite how you’d hoped. Still, you’re now up to 558th in the Rolex Women’s World Rankings – your career best – and No. 2 among the Malaysian players. How does that sit with you at the moment?

A: Results wise, yes. I think that throughout my entire career, I’ve always had to figure things out by myself. I’ve never had anyone show me the ropes. So sometimes life on tour got difficult, which made it hard to produce the results that I wanted even though my golf game was able to compete with the others in the field. The past two years I was competing on four tours worldwide and I was physically and mentally exhausted, and I’ve just realised that I was trying to do the impossible and I think that taking the time to focus on myself and my game was what really made the biggest difference this year.

Q: What’s next on your schedule, and how are you feeling heading into it?

A: For my next tournament, I will be heading to Morocco for the Ladies European Tour (LET) Q-School. And this year I decided to focus on one tour which was the TLPGA. I had conditional status in Europe but it’s hard to play on conditional status in Europe when you live in Asia, so obviously I’m hoping to get through and qualify with full playing status, but I know that at the end of the day, all I can do is physically and mentally prepare myself and whatever happens, happens. But I’m most definitely looking forward to it.

Q: Would you like to share with us something that you think our readers might find interesting that we haven’t touched on.

A: Sure. First off, I’d like to thank my sponsor who include Bermaz Auto, Jesselton, Lam Heung Ling Sabah, Kuala Lumpur Golf & Country Club, Titleist (clubs, gear), FootJoy (shoes, gloves) and Chucuchu (apparel). And if I were to share something I’ve learned, it would be that it doesn’t matter what route you take or how long it takes for you to get there – if you believe and fully commit to the route that you are taking, slowly but surely, you will get there.