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ONE putt.
That’s all Duntryleague Golf Club trainee professional Min Cheng’s three-year journey to fully fledged professional status came down to, and it was a tough one too.
It was a six-foot downhill slider on the 18th green at Riverside Oaks Golf Resort, during the NSW/ACT Trainee Professional Championship almost two weeks ago which, thankfully for Cheng, he drained.
“It was the longest putt of my life,” the 21-year-old laughed.
“I think I spent a good couple of minutes over it too. It was one of those things, I knew what I had to have and I knew I had to get it.
“If I missed that putt I probably would’ve had to do another 12 months as a trainee, so when it dropped a lot of weight came off my shoulders.”
Thanks to that round, Cheng will officially start his professional career next year after meeting all the necessary criteria to progress - although he can begin playing in tournaments as a professional immediately.
Trainee professionals must play in at least 20 relevant tournaments a year, averaging no more than 5.5 over each year, along with a host of other academic necessities.
“I cut it close this year, I averaged 5.47 after 21 rounds,” Cheng said.
“Only 40 per cent of people who start a traineeship finish, so it’s a pretty big thing for me. It was a long, challenging three years doing the traineeship.
“Next year I have a lot of options. I can play in tournaments and that kind of thing, or coach, or look to be a golf operations manager or something like that.
“I want to play. I’m still young. I’ll be giving it a crack, you never know what can happen. If that doesn’t work out I have things to fall back on, and I’ve always wanted to be a golfer.
“I really need to thank Duntryleague head professional John Furze, he’s helped me a lot throughout the last few years.
“The board of directors were all helpful as well, and all my sponsors too.”
Although he admitted it was some way down the track, Cheng explained the next step would be an even bigger one - Qualifying School, in an attempt to earn tournament exemption for the PGA Tour of Australasia.
“There’s three stages of that, and then you get tournament exemption. I think if I approached it full-time, using golf as my job, I could get there,” Cheng said.