Queen Sirikit Cup: Korea dominates final round to win 23rd cup

March 23, 2024 | by New Zealand Golf

The winning team from Korea (New Zealand Golf Photo)

Soomin Oh led Korea to the team win after winning the individual title behind a sizzling 7-under 65 final round

Korea’s golfing pedigree was on full display during the final round of the 44th Queen Sirikit Cup at Clearwater Golf Club, capturing their 23rd title in dominant fashion.

Soomin Oh, Hyosong Lee, and Shihyun Kim combined for an incredible 11-under today to seal an impressive victory, finishing nine-under for the championship, seven shots ahead of Japan, who played amazing golf to steal second place from Australia, with the hosts New Zealand finishing fourth.

Christchurch put on a stunner for the final day’s play, which the players took full advantage of. 17 of the 36-strong field shot even par or better, highlighting the change in conditions from the first three days, where even-par rounds or better were unusually scarce for a field of this caliber.

With the individual win, Oh jumps from No. 69 to No. 50 in the Golfweek/AmateurGolf.com Women's Rankings.

Oh shot a scintillating 7-under 65 to win the individual honors, combining with Shihyun Kim, who carded a 4-under 68.

Despite winning the individual trophy, the highest-ranked player in the field says it was more important to win as a team.

“I played really well alongside my teammates, and we worked really well as a team, which is why we were able to produce a great result.

“We were encouraging each other, and we all believed that we could win. We tried really hard to enjoy the game today and not put pressure on ourselves. We trusted each other a lot.”

Today’s victory was Korea’s 14th title in the past 16 years, an accomplishment the Korean team captain Seehoon Chang is extremely proud of and highlights the depth Korea has in the golfing landscape.

“I’ve been captain for more than 10 years now, and our team has managed to win about half of these events. I have a lot of confidence in these girls – this is their second time in the national team and they’ve been very good. I had a lot of confidence in them.

“Women’s golf in Korea is really strong. The other countries that are here are really great and it’s awesome that Korea keep producing great golfers to compete against the best players in the world. Lots of the girls have turned professional, but they all seem to meet at the LPGA events. That’s one of the reasons our girls practise hard so they’re able to compete with the best in the world.”

The Japanese team combined well to finish their tournament strongly, finishing two-under-par after shooting eight-under today.

They’ll look to stop the Korean juggernaut at home in 2025.

Results: Queen Sirikit Cup

Place	Player	Location	Pts	Scores
1	Soomin Oh	, Korea	700	76-73-69-65=283
2	Sarah Hammett	, Australia	500	74-67-76-70=287
3	Hyosong Lee	, Korea	400	76-71-72-70=289
4	Shi Hyun Kim	, Korea	400	74-72-76-68=290
5	Vivian Lu	, New Zealand	400	76-74-69-72=291

View full results for Queen Sirikit Cup

About the Queen Sirikit Cup

Queen Sirikit Cup: Korea dominates final round to win 23rd cup

Also known as the Amateur Ladies Asia-Pacific Invitational Team Championship. Teams of 3 players representing 15 different countries play 72 holes of stroke play competition.