Kanako Aoki, a promising newcomer in the world of women’s professional golf: “I want to try the U.S. Tour someday!

Ayaka Furue (24) and Yuka Yasuda (24) have been on cloud nine for a long time. But now we can finally stand on the same stage!”

Kanako Aoki (24), who passed the women’s golf professional test last year, smiles carefree as she talks about her dream of playing on the U.S. Tour. Her weapon of choice is her driver, which has an average distance of 250 yards. She is one of the top class “flyers” in the professional game, and says, “I like and am good at irons. I like and excel with irons, and my style is to boldly aim for the pin,” she says of her aggressive golf style.

My first impression of him is that he is cheerful, and the expression “innocent” fits him perfectly.

I started playing golf very late. I played volleyball from elementary school to junior high school, but I wasn’t tall enough to move up. I had been playing golf for fun since I was 10 years old under the influence of my grandfather, so I went to a local high school in Miyazaki that had a golf club in order to get more serious about the game.

In high school, he placed in the top ranks at the Kyushu Tournament, but he was unable to achieve the results he wanted at the national level.

In my senior year of high school, we played Takigawa Daini led by Yuka in the team competition. Her uniform had the ‘JAPAN’ logo on it. I could feel the difference in the level of play.

However, he was not devastated by the reality he was confronted with. Rather, “I saw good players up close and thought, ‘That’s cool. I decided to take the professional test, too.

Her teachers advised her to continue her studies at university, but she dared to take the thorny path, saying, “If I take the professional test in four years, I will be too late. Instead, he studied as a trainee while working part-time as a caddie at Phoenix CC, a prestigious golf course in Miyazaki Prefecture.

However, from there it was a series of hardships. In 1919, he failed the first round of his first professional test, falling one stroke short. In ’20, the test was postponed due to the COVID-19 crisis, and in ’21, the test was held twice including the postponed test, but he failed to make it to the second round. In 2010, he positioned the event as a milestone, but fell one stroke short and failed to qualify for the first round.

I was mentally challenged to fail the first round even though I had played for four years,” he said. My father wanted me to become a professional athlete, and he had always supported me, but when I told him frankly, ‘Don’t say anything more about golf,’ he accepted it.

In the fall of 2010, Aoki took a break from golf. He recalled that his high school classmates’ social networking sites were full of job-hunting stories and sparkling photos of graduation trips, and that he was “very envious of them.

Golf fever that never cooled

After leaving the game, she became so involved in yoga that she wanted to become a yoga instructor, but she could not completely give up golf. In April 2011, six months into his caddying career, he was contacted by several members of “Phoenix. In April 2011, after six months as a caddie, several members of “Phoenix” suggested, “Go pro again, and if you are serious about it, we will support you. If you are serious about it, we will support you.

I was worried for about a month, but it wasn’t that I disliked golf, and more than anything, I was happy that there were people who supported me. I decided to give it one more shot as a professional, hoping that the financial debt I felt toward my parents would disappear.

When you change your mind, you change quickly. In his fifth professional test in 1948, he failed in the second round due to a blank, but he was able to get a feel for the game. In February of last year, he made up his mind and set up his base in Tokyo. He quit his job as a caddie and literally spent his life immersed in golf.

He said, “There are many more amateur tournaments in the Kanto region than in Miyazaki. I woke up at 5:00 a.m. and immediately went to the golf course and hit the ball. It was like that all the way up until the final round of the professional test in October of last year.

Life in Tokyo also suits the water. She is a life-sized 20-something who enjoys shopping in Roppongi and Ginza to relieve stress and relieve her mind.

I like clothes, and ‘ZARA’ is the best, but they don’t have it in Miyazaki (laughs). So I go shopping at Roppongi Hills and other places to take a break. I also learned that beer tastes good after a sauna when I came to Tokyo.

Last year, I won the “Mynavi Next Heroine Tour,” a competition for young players aiming to pass the professional test, and I entered the test with a great deal of confidence. She passed the test with tears in her eyes, “for the sixth time in a row.

Rookies mainly play on the second-division tour, but Aoki also plays a few matches on the regular tour on the organizer’s recommendation. His popularity and ability are highly regarded, and he is constantly receiving offers from sponsors, having signed contracts with an unprecedented six companies.

I really appreciate all the support,” he said. First of all, I will try to get results in the second division and qualify for the first half of next season’s regular tour. Eventually, I want to become a player who can challenge the U.S. Tour, which is my dream!”

Will the late-blooming rookie’s rapid progress begin?

From the March 7, 2025 issue of FRIDAY