Hong Kong golfer Taichi Kho made history by becoming the first player from the territory to lift the trophy at the World City Championship presented by the Hong Kong Golf Club in March 2023. He continued the winning streak by bagging gold in the individual event at the 2023 Asian Games golf tournament in Hangzhou, China, in October 2023, becoming the latest rising talent to look out for.
Kho’s victory is especially significant as the 2023 Asian Games allowed amateurs and professionals to compete against each other for the first time. While the tournament had names including South Koreans Im Sung-jae and Kim Si-woo, ranked 26th and 40th in the world, respectively, and two-time Asian Tour winner Shubhankar Sharma of India, Kho beat the odds.
As enthusiasts of the sport await to witness this leading Hong Kong golfer at the SJM Macao Open 2023 scheduled from 12 to 15 October, discover all about Taichi Kho.
Career stats and other facts you probably didn’t know about rising star Taichi Kho
The golfer turned professional in January 2023
Ahead of his Asian Games glory, not only did Kho become the first home player to script history at the World City Championship, but he did so just two months after achieving professional status. He transitioned to the higher category in January 2023 at the Asian Tour Qualifying School.
According to The Open’s website, “After only his third event on the Asian circuit – [Kho] came through the qualifying school in January – he said: ‘I definitely wasn’t fearless – I was nervous, which was perfectly natural in the moment. I said to myself that I will be a better player by the end of it.'”
Success at the World City Championship opened several new doors for Taichi Kho
The World City Championship triumph brought huge success for the Hong Kong golfer. Ranked 1,273 in the world, Kho beat New Zealand’s Michael Hendry by two shots and became the ambassador of the Hong Kong Golf Club as well as the city hosting its first international event in 38 months.
He finished with an even-par 70 at the event, which was reduced to 54 holes due to severe weather conditions. At the end of the tournament, four places in The Open Championship, held at the Royal Liverpool Golf Club in July 2023, were offered as part of the Qualifying Series.
As the winner of the coveted golf tournament, Kho secured a position, and although he couldn’t make the cut, it was an essential experience for him. While the entire year hasn’t been smooth sailing for him, Kho has clearly taken each step as a learning experience.
According to stats on the Official World Gold Ranking, he climbed from World No. 1,365 to 576 between January to October 2023.
Kho began 2023 in February with the Singapore Classic, part of the DP World Tour. He missed the cut at the Laguna National Golf Resort Club and has played in 13 other events, as part of other tours. He holds a record of one win, two top-10s and six missed cuts.
Taichi Kho is a University of Notre Dame alum
Taichi Kho attended the prestigious University of Notre Dame in the US where he studied business between 2018 and 2021. However, the road to success was not always very easy.
In 2018, the South China Morning Post reported the then-17-year-old amateur golfer has had to push his peddle even harder to manage school work and his passion for the game. The Discovery College student secured a cool 43 points on his IB Diploma and his success both on and off the course earned him a scholarship to the acclaimed university.
Taichi Kho has been winning big since his college days
Taichi Kho has proven his passion and determination for golf from very early on. Since a very tender age, he has been quite ahead of his fellow golf players and has achieved highly from his school and college days. According to The Open’s website, in 2022, Kho had two runner-up finishes on the college circuit last year reaching a high of 67th on the World Amateur Golf Ranking.
SCMP’s 2018 report mentions he topped “a division of the Hong Kong Professional Golfers’ Association in January and qualified for last year’s [2017] UBS Hong Kong Open as the youngest male player in the tournament. In both tournaments, Taichi said that his dad served as his caddy.”
According to the report, one of his prominent early achievements included winning the Hong Kong Junior Close Championship in April by smooth 19 strokes.
His father introduced him to the game at the age of six
Taichi Kho is a golfer of half-Japanese and half-Chinese origin. He was born on 13 November 2000 to Victor Kho and Yoko Kikuchi.
His father introduced him to the game when the star golfer was about six years old. Victor told HKGolfer, “My wife Yoko and I enjoy playing golf. It is probably natural that we pass on this passion to our son Taichi.”
In his initial days, Kho would, reportedly, get really upset from bad shots and even throw his clubs on the ground, angering his father. The golfer recalls, “He has been by with me through the highs and the lows,” reported SCMP.
“Performing at such a high level in front of him made me very proud of the work I’ve put in over the past few years,” Kho added.
“I’ve not always had the best temper on the golf courses as a kid, but over time, I feel like a lot of different people have taught me different ways to think about golf,” Kho added.
The golfer struggled with his physical frame and mental stress about the game
Taichi Kho has displayed exemplary performance and brilliant form over the last couple of months, which has catapulted his ranking and gameplay. However, the initial days were wrought with struggle like any other amateur golfer.
The SCMP report stated he has a skinny frame and quoted him saying, I don’t hit [the ball] very far. I perform well by playing to my strengths, which are to use approach shots and my short game.”
Mental stress has been a challenge the athlete has had to overcome as well. “I’ve always had solid, all-round technique, but I’ve struggled with my mental game. I often get easily frustrated after a bad shot or round,” he said in a 2018 interview. However, he has significantly worked in these arenas and has channelled his low points to come back stronger — something that his career is a testimony to.
He has a long-time girlfriend
Taichi Kho has a long-time girlfriend named Inara, who is also a Hong Kong-based golfer. While not much is known about her, Kho shares images with her on his social media pages and the two often seem to go on vacations and have been spotted spending casual evenings together.
(Hero and feature image credit: Taichi Kho/@tk_1_/ Instagram)
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Trinetra is an ardent foodie and bibliophile who writes about films, travel, food and lifestyle. As a writer and literature student, slam poetry and storytelling are her go to jam. When not working, Trinetra is busy looking for her next place to visit or binge-watching Instagram videos for travel inspiration.
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