PROMISING junior golfer Marcus Lim Pang Chuen of Tentera Udara overcame a real test in extending his domination in the combined Under-Nine section of the fourth leg of the SportExcel open junior circuit at the Monterez Golf and Country Club recently.
Having emerged as the winner in the earlier three legs at the A’Famosa Golf Resort in Malacca, Monterez and Bukit Jalil Golf and Country Resort, Marcus did not have it easy in chalking up his fourth triumph in the series.
The nine-year-old SJKC Puay Chai pupil needed two holes of sudden-death playoff before prevailing over visitor Rachel Maswi from Singapore at the par-four 18th hole.
In the playoff, both registered a par each in the first attempt. Marcus repeated a similar par effort while Rachel blew her chance and settled for second with a double-bogey.
Marcus praised his opponent for piling up the pressure with a respectable start in the first hole playoff.
“She started off well. I was just playing the catch-up game. I was very lucky to save the situation and stayed in contention. Although it was a tight contest, I tried to focus on getting it right in the next attempt for another win,” he said.
Rachel stretched the tussle for the top spot in the age-group down to the wire returning with identical score of 13-over 85 over two-round of nine holes to share the lead and force the decider.
Marcus admitted he had a poor opening round of nine-over 45 before carding an improved four-over 40 on the following day.
“I struggled with my chipping and putting on the first day,” said Marcus.
Although Marcus led the charge with a narrow one stroke advantage over Rachel on the first day, Rachel levelled the score with a better second day outing of three-over 39.
Marcus is looking forward to continuing his good run featuring in the SportExcel junior golf series over the year-end school holiday.
Besides six remaining legs including the grand finals in the junior open series, there is one leg of Premier-Elite before the circuit’s grand finals on the competition calendar.
Meanwhile, Aaerishna Shahshty of Royal Johor displayed his consistency to emerge as the boys’ Under-12 champion with a one-under 141 (70-71) to finish ahead of Monterez’s Galven Kendall Green (70-73) by two strokes while Lucas Yee of Clearwater Sanctuary Golf Resort came in third (70-75).
In contrast, it was smooth sailing for Saujana Golf and Country Club’s Paul San in bagging the boys’ Under-15 title.
En route to the untroubled victory, the more experienced Paul carded three-over 145 and won with a healthy 13 strokes advantage over his closest challenger and runner-up Muhammad Asyraf Azman (80-78) from Port Klang.
More than 100 junior competitors featured in six categories at the recent two-day meet.
RESULTS
COMBINED
- Under-Nine: 85 (sudden-death): Marcus Lim Pang Chuen (Tentera Udara) 45-40; 85: Rachel Maswi (MGK Singapore) 46-39; 86: Darren Tiu (Kota Permai) 41-45
BOYS’
- Under-12: 141: Aaerishna Shahshty (Royal Johor) 70-71; 143: Galven Kendall Green (Monterez) 70-73; 145: Lucas Yee (Clearwater) 70-75
- Under-15: 145: Paul San (Saujana) 74-71; 158: Muhammad Asyraf Azman (Port Klang) 80-78; 160: Danial Mohd Sidek (MSN Terengganu) 77-83
- Under-20: 154: Muhammad Afzal Mohd Zubir (Tentera Udara) 79-75; 155: Yong Fatt Hon (Saujana) 74-81; 160: Luvesh Surendran (Kota Permai) 79-81
GIRLS’
- Under-12: 163: Siti Zulaikhaa Shaari (Tentera Udara) 80-83; 172: Qistina Balqis Azhar (Johor Junior) 86-86; 177: Junie Khaw Wen Jun (Tentera Udara) 90-87
- Under-15: 157: Jolene Kam Jo Ling (Kota Permai) 75-82; 166: Chong Yong (Kluang) 84-82; 167: Ong Shi Qing (Rahman Putra) 81-86
LINK :http://thestar.com.my/metro/story.asp?file=/2011/11/19/central/9890450&sec=central
No comments:
Post a Comment