Kuala Lumpur: Eighty of Malaysia’s top junior golfers will earn invites to the sixth edition of the TSM Golf Challenge, which will tee-off on December 2 at the Glenmarie Golf & Country Club in Shah Alam.
Awarding World Amateur Golf Ranking points for the first time this year, the three-day tournament, dubbed ‘In Search of the Malaysian Tiger’ will also introduce a new category for boys’ under-15 to compliment the existing boys’ and girls’ under-21 categories contested.
Prizes worth RM150,000 are up for grabs, with the champion in the boys and girls under-21 categories receiving golf scholarships worth RM40,000 and RM30,000 respectively with the under-15 champion receiving a scholarship worth RM3,000 and a new golf set. The golf scholarships will be channelled through the Malaysian Golf Association (MGA) to cover overseas training expenses for the winners.
Previous winners of the tournament, which was started in 2006 under the patronage of the Deputy Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin include professionals Lim Eng Seng, Akhmal Tarmizee Mohd Nazari, Mohd Iszaimi Ismail and lady professional Ainil Johani Abu Bakar as well as two of the country’s current top amateur Gavin Kyle Green and Kelly Tan (pix).
In a short note to the media, Muhyiddin expressed his joy that the creme de la creme of the local junior golf scene will go head-to-head against each other at Glenmarie. ”It’s very exciting to see the top junior players in the country coming face to face, determined to prove themselves. Each year the competition bring a whole new standard amongst the youngsters and in effect, raises the bar for newcomers and they have always rose to the occasion.”
President of the TSM Charity Golf, Tan Sri Megat Najmuddin Megat Khas shared that while the organisers were pleased that the five previous editions have met the objective of unearthing and further nurturing young local talents, there remains room for improvement.
“While we’re delighted how the tournament has taken place since its inception, I believe we can only say we have met our objectives when our quest of seeing one of our budding golfers in the top-ten of the world is achieved. We are witness to the tremendous growth of golf in Asia and we feel that the Malaysian juniors should not be left behind. It’s it our hope that by giving these children an opportunity to partake in a big tournament of this status, that it will give them the impetus and determination to excel,” he said.
On the postponement of the tournament from its usual July-August date to December this year, Megat Najmuddin elaborated that it was due to a few factors. “Obviously, the Deputy Prime Minister’s schedule is very tight due his various official and ministerial commitments, hence we postponed to the first week of December because he very much wanted to be present during the tournament week. And by having it in December, we’re also able to attract a stronger field of players as most of them will be done with school and major examinations for the year.
Tournament director Datuk AS Khamis stressed that the selection of players were done via merit. “We took account of the players performance and score averages from the various MGA-sanctioned events including the Faldo Series Malaysian Championship and100Plus Malaysian Junior Open. Hence, there’s no question that the juniors shortlisted deserve to be in this prestigious event.”
For details and enquiry on the event, please contact Azura Khamis at 03-7803 4423 or email tsmgc@yahoo.com.
LINK :http://www.theclubhouse.com.my/2011/11/1924/
