While 56-year-old Australian Gole has experienced it all during an illustrious career spanning more than four decades, 12-year-old Vietnamese Nguyen is just setting out on her journey in golf.

Their appearances this week as the eldest and youngest players in a 95-strong field competing over the acclaimed ROBERT TRENT JONES JR-designed Hoiana Shores Golf Club are an inspiration to people of all ages throughout the region.

Although neither of the WAAP debutants is expecting to lift the trophy in the 72-hole stroke play championship - which rewards its winner with places in three women’s major championships - the mere fact they’re included in the elite starting lineup on merit is an achievement in itself.

“I’m thrilled to be here with all of these amazing young athletes. I don’t have anything to prove, but I couldn’t have walked away from this opportunity,” said Gole, a former touring professional who dominated women’s senior golf last year.

In 2024, she won both the R&A Women’s Senior Amateur and U.S Senior Women’s Amateur, becoming the first Australian to do so. In the process, she broke into the top 100 in the World Amateur Golf Rankings and became the number-one senior.

During her time as a professional, Gole played in Australia, Japan and Europe, where her highlight was winning the Danish Open on the Ladies’ European Tour in 1996.

She stopped playing soon after to start a family. When her two children reached their 20s, Gole resumed golf as an amateur and was soon winning senior championships across Australia and Asia.

“I’m a great advocate that golf is a game for life - the friendships, the travel, the physical benefits, she said.

"I’m just enjoying it while I can. This week is tough because the course is 10 to 15 percent longer than what I’m used to these days. I’m having to hit woods into some greens where most girls are hitting irons. If I make the cut, I would say it’s a huge accomplishment.”

Gole was 12 when she began playing golf. As such, Nguyen can already claim to be five years ahead of the Australian in terms of getting her start in the sport.

Bau Chau Nguyen of Vietnam will compete at the Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific championship at Hoiana Shores Golf Club in Vietnam this week. (PHOTO: Supplied by R&A Media)

It was in 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, that Nguyen had her introduction to golf, hitting balls alongside her father and brother in the flower garden in front of their house.

It has not taken long for her talent to flourish. In 2024, she had two wins and five top-10 finishes in WAGR-counting events on home soil and also placed 20th in the Malaysian Women’s Amateur Open.

“I feel proud, happy, and a little nervous to be here this week,” said Bao Chau Nguyen, who asked teammate Viet Gia Han Nguyen to act as her translator for what was her first exposure to an international media interview.

Currently 710th in the WAGR (third among the six Vietnamese players taking part this week) Bao Chau Nguyen says her driving is her strongest suit, carrying the ball an average of 220 yards off the tee.

She acknowledges that she needs to improve her short game and that it will have to be at its sharpest if she’s to achieve her goal of making the cut here, which she believes will be accomplished if she can put together two sub-75 rounds.

At this point, Gia Han Nguyen, a veritable veteran in comparison to Bao Chau Nguyen at 14 years old, intervenes to spare the blushes of her young compatriot, who names Nelly Korda as her favorite player and admits to ambitions of making it to the LPGA Tour one day.

“Her ball-striking is excellent, and she has so much talent, but she doesn’t have much tournament experience. Sometimes she needs to have a better strategy and course management,” said Gia Han Nguyen, who can understand the emotions Bao Chau Nguyen is going through better than most.

It was in 2022, when she was 11 years old, that Gia Han Nguyen made history as the youngest-ever player in the Vietnam National Championship. She’s now the country’s top-rated player at 368th in the WAGR, with a fourth-place finish in last year’s APGC Junior Girls Championship as her standout performance.

While Gole and Bao Chau Nguyen may be at opposite ends of their careers, they share a common respect for the course, which recently celebrated its fifth anniversary.

“It’s a spectacular and difficult course, especially if the wind is blowing,” said Bao Chau Nguyen, who had a couple of rounds at the venue prior to the WAAP, as opposed to Gole, who saw the layout for the first time this week.

“It’s amazing what they’ve done with the course. Parts of it remind me of golfing in Ireland,” said Gole.