There were remarkable stories all across the leaderboard at the Ford Women’s NSW Open this week, but spare a moment for the players with a small letter next to their name.
Four amateurs made the cut at Wollongong Golf Club, and if the future of Australian women’s golf looked anything like this weekend, the game is in very good hands.
Korean 17-year-old Soomin Oh was impossible to ignore, finishing runner-up in a stunning performance, while NSW’s Ella Scaysbrook played all four rounds to finish tied 37th at four-under.
But two names in particular deserve to be remembered long after the leaderboard comes down — Victorian Amelia Harris and Camilla Kim of NSW.
Kim earned her place in the field as the 2025 NSW Junior Champion, and what followed was an extraordinary debut in professional golf. She finished at four-under and tied 37th, scoring better than seasoned LET members along the way.
“Obviously it’s really exciting to even play this event. I’m really thrilled that I made the cut,” Kim said.
The week wasn’t without its challenges — Thursday’s opening round was played in wind and rain — but Kim ground through it and kept shooting under par from there.
Caddie Mimi Thomsen, a Wollongong local, was on the bag for the final two rounds, a partnership that proved pivotal in one of the week’s most talked-about moments.
On the par-three third on Saturday, Kim’s five hybrid tracked toward the flag and settled inches from the cup for a tap-in birdie — agonisingly close to a hole-in-one that would have won her the Ford Everest Sport V6.
The car, as it turns out, would have presented a problem. Kim won’t turn 16 until September.
“I was like, it could have been a gift for myself when I get my L’s, or I could have given it to Mimi,” she grinned.
What Kim took from the week was something more valuable than any prize. Playing alongside players she has long admired shifted something in her understanding of where she belongs.
“Some of these players I’ve always been looking up to as role models, and playing in the same field is crazy,” she said.
Then there is Amelia Harris. One week ago the 17-year-old Victorian was at The Links Shell Cove trying to qualify for a tournament she wasn’t even sure she’d be playing.
She won the regional qualifier — her first professional win — booked her spot, and proceeded to finish in the top ten.
This was her second LET event but her first cut made, and the top ten was something else entirely.
“Definitely not something I would have expected,” she laughed.
Beyond the result, what Harris took away was a window into what it takes at this level.
“I learned more about myself, realising that I can compete with them,” she said.
“Even the girls that missed the cut were back out here practising. Just seeing how they work.”
She now heads into a packed schedule — the Riversdale Cup, a qualifying attempt for the Australian Open, and college in the United States later this year.
“Being one of the top amateur girls from Australia this week really does boost my confidence. Seeing some of the players I beat from the LET — yeah, it does bring me a lot of confidence.”
Two teenagers. Two performances that will be remembered. And a whole lot of golf still ahead of them.
