China's top female golfer is encouraging young players to hone their game abroad.

The nation's first major golf title winner, Feng Shanshan, attributes her groundbreaking performance last year to years of exposure to the professional atmosphere in the United States and urged other talented Chinese players to take note.

"The biggest gap between the Chinese and the western players on the tour isn't the skills, but the mentality," Feng told China Daily at the launch of the Reignwood LPGA Classic.

"It's about how much you can deliver at real competitions when your technique is on the same level. You can't learn it from practice. You can only improve it by gaining more experience at high-level tournaments. So you'd better go abroad."

Feng's own success is proof the foreign program is a good road to take.

The Guangdong native found it hard to find any strong challengers in domestic junior tournaments. When she was 17, she headed off to the US to practice with renowned coach Gary Gilchrist, who also works with former World No 1 Tseng Ya-ni of Chinese Taipei.

While still a teenage amateur, Feng earned a spot on the LPGA Tour in 2008 after tying for ninth at the Tour's final qualifying tournament.

After four years on the tour, Feng grabbed another five titles in addition to her LPGA Championship win to finish the 2012 calendar year ranked No 5.

"The most important lesson I've learned abroad is how to keep consistent under pressure," said the 23-year-old. "Successful experiences will help you grow faster. So I am sure Guan (Tianlang)'s experience at the Masters will boost his confidence greatly."

Guan became the youngest male golfer to make the cut in a major championship at the US Masters last month, and drew worldwide attention to the sport's development in China.

Inspired by the sport's Olympic prospects, the Chinese Golf Association has started to invest more in the cultivation of young players by organizing overseas programs and introducing elite tournaments to try to produce another Feng or Guan.

"Just to see how competitive some of the young players are shows their commitment to creating opportunities in training for their young people to be successful," Jon Podany, the chief marketing officer of the LPGA, said.

"We are looking forward to partnering with CGA. The State-run system gives us a formal infrastructure to get things implemented. That should work well."

Zhang Xiaoning, vice-president and secretary general of CGA, expects to provide more opportunities for the country's young players by hosting the new LPGA event.

"One of the main objectives of the organizing committee was for the tournament to be an instrument for the growth of golf in China.

"These events present a fantastic platform for our talented up-and-coming Chinese players to pit their skills against world-class golfers as they look ahead to the Olympics. It is also an opportunity for the world to see what a wonderful place China is to watch and play golf in."

Sun Xiaochen

(China Daily 05/19/2013 page8)