Seoul, Korea: Kim Min-sol, one of Asia’s brightest female golfing prospects, has joined the ranks of the professionals.

The towering 17-year-old has been a stalwart of the junior and women’s amateur scene in the region since her early teens, reaching a high of number three in the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR).

Kim competed in the past three editions of the Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific, placing joint 13th in 2022, runner-up in 2023 and tied for fifth this year.

In 2023, she was a member of the Korean team that won the gold medal in the Women’s Amateur Team Championships in Abu Dhabi and triumphed in the Queen Sirikit Cup in the Philippines and also was part of the silver medal-winning Korean line-up at the Hangzhou Asian Games.

Last year, Kim also partnered An Seong-hyeon to victory in the team category at the APGC Junior Championships, finishing fifth in the individual standings, and represented the Asia-Pacific Golf Confederation (APGC) in the Patsy Hankins Trophy.

In the Solheim Cup-style team match play event against the European Golf Association at Spain’s La Manga Resort, Kim was one of the APGC's standout performers, claiming three points in a losing cause, including a 3&2 singles success against Czech Republic’s Patricie Mackova.

In recent years, Kim has enjoyed impressive results against the professionals on the Korean LPGA Tour and the LPGA Tour, contending in the BMW Ladies Championship in 2022 before finishing tied-10th.

She’s also taken part in the US Women’s Open and Women’s Australian Open.

“I have so much respect for the professionals and I realise how much I have to learn. I’m confident in my iron shots, but I still have a long way to go to catch them,” said Kim, who was introduced to golf at an early age.

“When I was 10 years old, my uncle told my father that I must do something with golf. He could see the talent – and that was the start,” added Kim, whose professional career will commence with a visit to the 2025 Korean LPGA Tour Q-School.