Thursday, September 06, 2007
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Around 120 golfers from Southeast Asia are participating in the inaugural event of the ASEAN Golf Tour being held at Imperial Klub in Tangerang, Banten, from Sep. 5-8.
Organizers said the tournament was designed help professional and amateur golfers in the region hone their skills.
"Many talented golfers do not have enough chances to play competitive golf. We hope this tournament will therefore be one they have to put on their schedule," tour chairman A C Wong told reporters Wednesday.
Wong said the first tournament was held exclusively for golfers from countries grouped in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, but organizers would eventually open the event to participants from outside the 10 ASEAN member countries.
"We will bring in additional players as the competition gets stronger. Although it will be of course within Asian countries," he asserted.
Indonesia Professional Golfers Association (PGPI) chairman Nursalam A Tabusala hoped the tournament could become a stepping-stone for the development of golfers in the region to compete in the higher level Asian Tour.
On the first day of the tournament rookie Lim Eng Seng of Malaysia took charge with a three-under 69.
One shot back was Filipino Marvin Dumandan.
Two Malaysian golfers Danny Chia and S. Sivachandran shared third place at one-under-par 71.
The Tangerang event is the first of five events scheduled by organizers of the tour. After Indonesia, the tour will move to Thailand, the Philippines, Vietnam and Singapore.
Each event will offer total prize money of US$30,000.(02)
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