January 23, 2026 • 9 mins
The countdown is on for the Asia-Pacific's preeminent women's amateur golf championship at Royal Wellington early next month.
The Women's Amateur Asia Pacific Championship begins on February 12, with golfers travelling from all corners of the globe to take part.
Many local eyes will be on Lower Hutt golfer Darae Chung, who's currently at the University of Oregon.
She joined Adam Cooper to discuss her tournament preparation and how important a strong result would be for her golfing trajectory.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Well, as we've been talking about quite regularly on the show,
(00:02):
on the show and just before with Steve as well.
For the first time in New Zealand, the Women's Amateur
Asia Pacific Golf Championships is being held and it's at
Royal Wellington starting February twelve. One of the big names
to watch from a Wellington perspective will be Lower Hut
golfer Darray Chung, who's currently at the University of Oregon
in the US but coming back for this big event.
Darray joins us now to look ahead to the tournament. Dary,
(00:25):
very good morning to you from back home and Wellington.
Not long to go now, is it? And I imagine
this is something that's pretty big on your golfing calendar.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
Yeah, I'm definitely super excited to be back home in Wellington.
I was home for about three weeks and spent Christmas
in like half of year's back at home. But yeah,
super excited to get out of this.
Speaker 3 (00:46):
Cold and get back to QI summer and just yeah.
Speaker 2 (00:50):
Play in front of big home crowds and yeah be
in that competition.
Speaker 1 (00:54):
Well, you wouldn't be having much golf this weekend. It's
not on the great weekend. Weatherwise for Wellington, dar hopefully
improves before you get here. Oregon on the west coast
though that doesn't necessarily have the coldest winters, but I'm
sure lots of rain. How does the winter up there
affect the golf courses and how you're able to train.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
One hundred percent? I mean at this time of year,
it's really muddy, and so that really affects how the
ball goes. Everything is much shorter than how I'm hitting
at home, and yeah, we get frost delays and so
we can't get out onto the course until I want to, say,
like twelve pm, one pm, and so we have to
practice indoors during the morning times, and so I definitely
(01:33):
think it affects our play and like how how ball.
Speaker 3 (01:37):
Goes right now.
Speaker 1 (01:38):
So I've got no doubt you made the most of
your time then when you were back here during the
summer recently, And did you particularly spend a lot of
time at Royal Wellington getting ready for the big tournament
next month?
Speaker 3 (01:48):
Yeah? No, I'm so grateful that.
Speaker 2 (01:51):
The stuff at roy Wellington welcome me back and allow
me to practice on the course. And yeah, I mean
the course is looking amazing at the moment, and I
got to play a couple rounds there, and I have
a caddy for the event, and he's a member at
Rollington as well, and so we got to just go
around and figure out our strategies and yeah, practice during
(02:12):
my time there.
Speaker 1 (02:12):
Because you also played a lot at Shandon when you
were younger as well, didn't you.
Speaker 2 (02:17):
Yeah, so that's my home club and where I played
inter club, but I practiced a lot out at Orrellington
because the facilities are really nice there.
Speaker 1 (02:24):
Yeah, certainly going to be fantastic for this tournament, right,
So what is your strategy going into a massive event
like this with a home crowds. I'm sure you're aware
there'll be plenty of support for you and a lot
of people tracking your progress. We know you have bigger
aims and golf long term as well. So how are
you preparing and what kind of things do you want
to tick off when you come back for this?
Speaker 2 (02:44):
Yeah, I mean this sounds pretty redomant, but you just
got to do the same thing every day, Like you
change nothing about your process, you change nothing about your practice.
You just do the same thing that you've been doing before.
And I think that in itself gives me comfort because
I know that if I took all the boxes for
(03:05):
the day.
Speaker 3 (03:06):
Then I'm already doing the right things. Another part is
having a really.
Speaker 2 (03:11):
Good mental strategy, because sometimes having a huge home crowd
could be a really big mental block. But at the
same time, you could flip the perspective around and think, oh,
these are all these people are here to cheer me on,
and all these people are my fans, or there's all
these familiar faces in the crowd, and.
Speaker 3 (03:29):
I think.
Speaker 2 (03:31):
If you think that way, it's less daunting and more like, oh, heay,
these are people who all really want me to do well,
And so I think having that kind of strategy is
quite key.
Speaker 3 (03:42):
In this kind of circumstance.
Speaker 2 (03:43):
And then also leaning on like my parents will be there,
my friends and like other friends and family will be there.
Like leaning on my support system, I think is also huge.
And so I think that's how I've been preparing for
the tournament.
Speaker 3 (03:55):
So far.
Speaker 1 (03:55):
You've had some big wins at the levels of golf,
So how much Pracey do you put on yourself now
for a big tournament like this. You talk justin about
your mean till game, and I imagine you see some
pretty high expectations for yourself.
Speaker 3 (04:07):
Yeah, that's a great question.
Speaker 2 (04:10):
I think as highly competitive people, it's kind of inevitable
that we put such big expectations on ourselves. But I
think that can also be quite damaging because say you
can't reach those expectations, then you feel really disappointed and
sometimes you can get really burnt out. But I think
what I've learned in my journey is that sometimes you
(04:30):
just got to throw away the expectations and really focus.
Speaker 3 (04:32):
On the present. And at the moment, what I.
Speaker 2 (04:34):
Can really focus on is what will my.
Speaker 3 (04:37):
Core strategy be at wor Lyington and sort.
Speaker 2 (04:39):
Of focus on that and focus on distances that I
might have when I play this tournament, like focusing on
small increments of my game in order for me to
succeed in the tournament.
Speaker 3 (04:50):
I think is what allows me to.
Speaker 2 (04:52):
End up fulfilling my expectation without thinking about it.
Speaker 3 (04:56):
All the time and.
Speaker 2 (04:57):
Sort of bogging my mind down with oh, I need
to play well or I wish I could do well.
Speaker 1 (05:01):
So, given New Zealand is hosting this tournament, you and
a lot of other kiwis have been given intree. But
in terms of the race of the field, are you're
aware of most of the golfers who you will be
up against, or is there a bit of a seats
of the unknown as well?
Speaker 2 (05:14):
Yeah, I actually have three of my teammates playing.
Speaker 3 (05:19):
In this tournament with me.
Speaker 2 (05:20):
We'll all be flying together to Wellington, so that would
be pretty fun. And I do know some of the
other girls in the field. There's feature teammates in the
field for me as well, but yeah, like half of
the field, I would say, I probably don't really know
that well.
Speaker 3 (05:36):
And so like.
Speaker 2 (05:38):
Whenever you go to a big tournament, there's always that
unknown of all four all these girls, and I wonder
how well they will play. But if you focus on
your own game, I feel like.
Speaker 3 (05:49):
That kind of stuff.
Speaker 2 (05:50):
All sort of fades away and you just end up, yeah,
focusing on yourself.
Speaker 1 (05:55):
So that's your team from Oregon coming down for this.
Speaker 2 (05:58):
Yes, my teammates at Oregon right now.
Speaker 1 (06:00):
Amazing. So that must be pretty excited to say, what
New Zealand's all about.
Speaker 3 (06:04):
Yeah, No, I'm super excited.
Speaker 2 (06:05):
I've been hyping up New Zealand for the past three months,
so I'm pretty excited for their reactions and everything.
Speaker 1 (06:14):
All Right, Well, you've spoken a lot about your aims
to become a professional, and given some of the winners
this tournament has had over the years in their progress, certainly,
I guess being successful here will put you in good state.
How much will the top result in this event influence
your path to becoming a pro? Do you think?
Speaker 2 (06:31):
I want to say that results aren't everything in the
long run, but having a good result in.
Speaker 3 (06:36):
This tournament, like winning this tournament.
Speaker 2 (06:39):
Would be huge, especially like you said, I have dreams.
Speaker 3 (06:42):
Of becoming professional.
Speaker 2 (06:44):
If you win this tournament, you get entries into major
championships and other LPGA tournaments and also other big amateur tournaments.
And having that kind of experience under your belt before
you turn professional I think is really valuable. And if
you have that experience as an amateur, then you can
kind of get a glimpse of to what it's like
(07:05):
and sort of prepare yourself for what professional life.
Speaker 3 (07:08):
Might be like right now. So, yeah, no, it's a
big opportunities, big stakes.
Speaker 1 (07:12):
And just on your journey. You've been in the American
college system for a few years now, what would your
advice be to young golfers in Wellington as the college
system over there is something you'd reckon mean for young
kV golfers one hundred percent.
Speaker 3 (07:26):
I think the college system is so unique.
Speaker 2 (07:29):
It's such a valuable experience. You can only experience it
from eighteen to twenty two. You can't experience it any
other time in your life. And I think, as you know,
young woman, it's such a I think it's so important
to have an education.
Speaker 3 (07:43):
Especially like a higher education.
Speaker 2 (07:46):
And yeah, I mean my advice would be, you know.
Speaker 3 (07:48):
Focused on your studies, but I know golf.
Speaker 2 (07:51):
Is super important in our lives. But to prioritize studying
and making sure that you have good grades, I think
is really important. And second of all, really focus.
Speaker 3 (08:01):
On what you can practice now.
Speaker 2 (08:04):
I feel like you can get so caught.
Speaker 3 (08:07):
Up in what you want to win, what you want
to achieve, where you.
Speaker 2 (08:10):
Want to be, but you're not there yet. All you
can do right now is focus on what you have
in front of you and focus where your feet are.
And if you keep on focusing on.
Speaker 3 (08:20):
The present and doing good with everything right.
Speaker 2 (08:22):
Now, then I think it all stacks up and in.
Speaker 3 (08:25):
The future you just become what you dreamed of.
Speaker 2 (08:28):
And yeah, I feel like that way you just naturally
end up in America without having to force anything or
try so hard. Yeah, that would be my twoth sent.
Speaker 1 (08:39):
Right advice, And now you mentioned it, I must ask
how have you found balancing out golf and study, because
I'm sure there are times you'd prefer to be out
on the cools, but they know, on a tough day golfing,
you probably wish you inside studying.
Speaker 2 (08:51):
Yeah, I mean number one planners.
Speaker 3 (08:53):
I think it's so overlooked.
Speaker 2 (08:57):
You have to plan every hour of your life, I
think while a student athlete, and every minute counts.
Speaker 3 (09:03):
And yeah, you've just got to be really organized.
Speaker 2 (09:06):
And I have this thing called the five second rule.
Sometimes I'll sit at my desk or I'll go to
the golf course and I really don't want to start anything,
so I count to five and then once I count
to five, I'd just start doing whatever I need to do.
And I think that has really helped me balance things
out and get myself on top of everything.
Speaker 1 (09:24):
Brilliant well Zara, It's been fantastic to chat. I really
appreciate your time here on News Talks Eiday this morning,
Safe travels back here in a couple of weeks and
looking forward to seeing you in action at Royal Wellington
is part of this amazing tournament and a couple of weeks,
so appreciate your time and go well.
Speaker 3 (09:39):
Thank you so much for having me.
Speaker 1 (09:41):
For more from News Talks at b Listen live on
air or online, and keep our shows with you wherever
you go with our podcast on iHeartRadio.
Well, as we've been talking about quite regularly on the show,
(00:02):
on the show and just before with Steve as well.
For the first time in New Zealand, the Women's Amateur
Asia Pacific Golf Championships is being held and it's at
Royal Wellington starting February twelve. One of the big names
to watch from a Wellington perspective will be Lower Hut
golfer Darray Chung, who's currently at the University of Oregon
in the US but coming back for this big event.
Darray joins us now to look ahead to the tournament. Dary,
(00:25):
very good morning to you from back home and Wellington.
Not long to go now, is it? And I imagine
this is something that's pretty big on your golfing calendar.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
Yeah, I'm definitely super excited to be back home in Wellington.
I was home for about three weeks and spent Christmas
in like half of year's back at home. But yeah,
super excited to get out of this.
Speaker 3 (00:46):
Cold and get back to QI summer and just yeah.
Speaker 2 (00:50):
Play in front of big home crowds and yeah be
in that competition.
Speaker 1 (00:54):
Well, you wouldn't be having much golf this weekend. It's
not on the great weekend. Weatherwise for Wellington, dar hopefully
improves before you get here. Oregon on the west coast
though that doesn't necessarily have the coldest winters, but I'm
sure lots of rain. How does the winter up there
affect the golf courses and how you're able to train.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
One hundred percent? I mean at this time of year,
it's really muddy, and so that really affects how the
ball goes. Everything is much shorter than how I'm hitting
at home, and yeah, we get frost delays and so
we can't get out onto the course until I want to, say,
like twelve pm, one pm, and so we have to
practice indoors during the morning times, and so I definitely
(01:33):
think it affects our play and like how how ball.
Speaker 3 (01:37):
Goes right now.
Speaker 1 (01:38):
So I've got no doubt you made the most of
your time then when you were back here during the
summer recently, And did you particularly spend a lot of
time at Royal Wellington getting ready for the big tournament
next month?
Speaker 3 (01:48):
Yeah? No, I'm so grateful that.
Speaker 2 (01:51):
The stuff at roy Wellington welcome me back and allow
me to practice on the course. And yeah, I mean
the course is looking amazing at the moment, and I
got to play a couple rounds there, and I have
a caddy for the event, and he's a member at
Rollington as well, and so we got to just go
around and figure out our strategies and yeah, practice during
(02:12):
my time there.
Speaker 1 (02:12):
Because you also played a lot at Shandon when you
were younger as well, didn't you.
Speaker 2 (02:17):
Yeah, so that's my home club and where I played
inter club, but I practiced a lot out at Orrellington
because the facilities are really nice there.
Speaker 1 (02:24):
Yeah, certainly going to be fantastic for this tournament, right,
So what is your strategy going into a massive event
like this with a home crowds. I'm sure you're aware
there'll be plenty of support for you and a lot
of people tracking your progress. We know you have bigger
aims and golf long term as well. So how are
you preparing and what kind of things do you want
to tick off when you come back for this?
Speaker 2 (02:44):
Yeah, I mean this sounds pretty redomant, but you just
got to do the same thing every day, Like you
change nothing about your process, you change nothing about your practice.
You just do the same thing that you've been doing before.
And I think that in itself gives me comfort because
I know that if I took all the boxes for
(03:05):
the day.
Speaker 3 (03:06):
Then I'm already doing the right things. Another part is
having a really.
Speaker 2 (03:11):
Good mental strategy, because sometimes having a huge home crowd
could be a really big mental block. But at the
same time, you could flip the perspective around and think, oh,
these are all these people are here to cheer me on,
and all these people are my fans, or there's all
these familiar faces in the crowd, and.
Speaker 3 (03:29):
I think.
Speaker 2 (03:31):
If you think that way, it's less daunting and more like, oh, heay,
these are people who all really want me to do well,
And so I think having that kind of strategy is
quite key.
Speaker 3 (03:42):
In this kind of circumstance.
Speaker 2 (03:43):
And then also leaning on like my parents will be there,
my friends and like other friends and family will be there.
Like leaning on my support system, I think is also huge.
And so I think that's how I've been preparing for
the tournament.
Speaker 3 (03:55):
So far.
Speaker 1 (03:55):
You've had some big wins at the levels of golf,
So how much Pracey do you put on yourself now
for a big tournament like this. You talk justin about
your mean till game, and I imagine you see some
pretty high expectations for yourself.
Speaker 3 (04:07):
Yeah, that's a great question.
Speaker 2 (04:10):
I think as highly competitive people, it's kind of inevitable
that we put such big expectations on ourselves. But I
think that can also be quite damaging because say you
can't reach those expectations, then you feel really disappointed and
sometimes you can get really burnt out. But I think
what I've learned in my journey is that sometimes you
(04:30):
just got to throw away the expectations and really focus.
Speaker 3 (04:32):
On the present. And at the moment, what I.
Speaker 2 (04:34):
Can really focus on is what will my.
Speaker 3 (04:37):
Core strategy be at wor Lyington and sort.
Speaker 2 (04:39):
Of focus on that and focus on distances that I
might have when I play this tournament, like focusing on
small increments of my game in order for me to
succeed in the tournament.
Speaker 3 (04:50):
I think is what allows me to.
Speaker 2 (04:52):
End up fulfilling my expectation without thinking about it.
Speaker 3 (04:56):
All the time and.
Speaker 2 (04:57):
Sort of bogging my mind down with oh, I need
to play well or I wish I could do well.
Speaker 1 (05:01):
So, given New Zealand is hosting this tournament, you and
a lot of other kiwis have been given intree. But
in terms of the race of the field, are you're
aware of most of the golfers who you will be
up against, or is there a bit of a seats
of the unknown as well?
Speaker 2 (05:14):
Yeah, I actually have three of my teammates playing.
Speaker 3 (05:19):
In this tournament with me.
Speaker 2 (05:20):
We'll all be flying together to Wellington, so that would
be pretty fun. And I do know some of the
other girls in the field. There's feature teammates in the
field for me as well, but yeah, like half of
the field, I would say, I probably don't really know
that well.
Speaker 3 (05:36):
And so like.
Speaker 2 (05:38):
Whenever you go to a big tournament, there's always that
unknown of all four all these girls, and I wonder
how well they will play. But if you focus on
your own game, I feel like.
Speaker 3 (05:49):
That kind of stuff.
Speaker 2 (05:50):
All sort of fades away and you just end up, yeah,
focusing on yourself.
Speaker 1 (05:55):
So that's your team from Oregon coming down for this.
Speaker 2 (05:58):
Yes, my teammates at Oregon right now.
Speaker 1 (06:00):
Amazing. So that must be pretty excited to say, what
New Zealand's all about.
Speaker 3 (06:04):
Yeah, No, I'm super excited.
Speaker 2 (06:05):
I've been hyping up New Zealand for the past three months,
so I'm pretty excited for their reactions and everything.
Speaker 1 (06:14):
All Right, Well, you've spoken a lot about your aims
to become a professional, and given some of the winners
this tournament has had over the years in their progress, certainly,
I guess being successful here will put you in good state.
How much will the top result in this event influence
your path to becoming a pro? Do you think?
Speaker 2 (06:31):
I want to say that results aren't everything in the
long run, but having a good result in.
Speaker 3 (06:36):
This tournament, like winning this tournament.
Speaker 2 (06:39):
Would be huge, especially like you said, I have dreams.
Speaker 3 (06:42):
Of becoming professional.
Speaker 2 (06:44):
If you win this tournament, you get entries into major
championships and other LPGA tournaments and also other big amateur tournaments.
And having that kind of experience under your belt before
you turn professional I think is really valuable. And if
you have that experience as an amateur, then you can
kind of get a glimpse of to what it's like
(07:05):
and sort of prepare yourself for what professional life.
Speaker 3 (07:08):
Might be like right now. So, yeah, no, it's a
big opportunities, big stakes.
Speaker 1 (07:12):
And just on your journey. You've been in the American
college system for a few years now, what would your
advice be to young golfers in Wellington as the college
system over there is something you'd reckon mean for young
kV golfers one hundred percent.
Speaker 3 (07:26):
I think the college system is so unique.
Speaker 2 (07:29):
It's such a valuable experience. You can only experience it
from eighteen to twenty two. You can't experience it any
other time in your life. And I think, as you know,
young woman, it's such a I think it's so important
to have an education.
Speaker 3 (07:43):
Especially like a higher education.
Speaker 2 (07:46):
And yeah, I mean my advice would be, you know.
Speaker 3 (07:48):
Focused on your studies, but I know golf.
Speaker 2 (07:51):
Is super important in our lives. But to prioritize studying
and making sure that you have good grades, I think
is really important. And second of all, really focus.
Speaker 3 (08:01):
On what you can practice now.
Speaker 2 (08:04):
I feel like you can get so caught.
Speaker 3 (08:07):
Up in what you want to win, what you want
to achieve, where you.
Speaker 2 (08:10):
Want to be, but you're not there yet. All you
can do right now is focus on what you have
in front of you and focus where your feet are.
And if you keep on focusing on.
Speaker 3 (08:20):
The present and doing good with everything right.
Speaker 2 (08:22):
Now, then I think it all stacks up and in.
Speaker 3 (08:25):
The future you just become what you dreamed of.
Speaker 2 (08:28):
And yeah, I feel like that way you just naturally
end up in America without having to force anything or
try so hard. Yeah, that would be my twoth sent.
Speaker 1 (08:39):
Right advice, And now you mentioned it, I must ask
how have you found balancing out golf and study, because
I'm sure there are times you'd prefer to be out
on the cools, but they know, on a tough day golfing,
you probably wish you inside studying.
Speaker 2 (08:51):
Yeah, I mean number one planners.
Speaker 3 (08:53):
I think it's so overlooked.
Speaker 2 (08:57):
You have to plan every hour of your life, I
think while a student athlete, and every minute counts.
Speaker 3 (09:03):
And yeah, you've just got to be really organized.
Speaker 2 (09:06):
And I have this thing called the five second rule.
Sometimes I'll sit at my desk or I'll go to
the golf course and I really don't want to start anything,
so I count to five and then once I count
to five, I'd just start doing whatever I need to do.
And I think that has really helped me balance things
out and get myself on top of everything.
Speaker 1 (09:24):
Brilliant well Zara, It's been fantastic to chat. I really
appreciate your time here on News Talks Eiday this morning,
Safe travels back here in a couple of weeks and
looking forward to seeing you in action at Royal Wellington
is part of this amazing tournament and a couple of weeks,
so appreciate your time and go well.
Speaker 3 (09:39):
Thank you so much for having me.
Speaker 1 (09:41):
For more from News Talks at b Listen live on
air or online, and keep our shows with you wherever
you go with our podcast on iHeartRadio.
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