It’s never easy for any young athletes to balance the academic responsibilities of a student. Chang Tzu-Yi (張子怡), now a University of California (Berkeley) sophomore, has been embracing the pressure of demands in her multiple roles as a TLPGA Tour player, a college golfer, and an economics student in a world-renown university.

Chang caught a little break when the pandemic forced the courses and schoolwork to go online, “but still, they take a lot of time from me. I haven’t been managing the time as well as my last semester. I had to cut my time from golf,” Chang said. “Now I only have two hours a day for the training.”

On how to balance the workload, “sleep less!” Chang gave her advice. But talking about her new year resolutions, other than taking her first victory in a pro event, “I hope I can find a way to get rid of my black circles,” the low amateur at the recent Wistron Ladies Open said.

Yeh Hsin-Ning (葉欣寧) couldn’t afford to tire her body, though. With a congenital unstable cholesterol level which tends to go too high when having just a slice of cheesecake or two, as well as thyroid disorders that developed into Meniere’s disease, Yeh admits she’s in a struggle to bring her best golf. “The condition has been well under control. But I felt the vertigo came back again in the first round when we had to play through the rain,” Yeh recalled. “I had to twice resort to medication today to stay away from the dizziness the Meniere’s disease caused.” Fortunately, Yeh safely made the cut as she improved her score from 77 on day one to 75 on Thursday.

The Christmas is coming. Cheng Ssu-Chia (程思嘉) will be bringing 20 children in her charity program to the Tong Hwa Golf Course on this Christmas day, introducing them to the golf sport. Cheng’s dad, who will dress himself in a Santa suit, will be giving away gifts to the kids and fans starting on 9 a.m. on the adidas Golf booth at the clubhouse.