Ashley Lau receives her prizes from Tunku Tan Sri Imran Tuanku Ja’afar. — Photo courtesy of The ClubHouse
KUCHING: Defending champion Ashley Lau Jen Wen of Hills Australia retained her Girls 15-18 years title at the 11th AmBank Group-SportExcel International Junior Golf Championship at Templer Park Country Club in Rawang on Thursday.
The 16-year old girl from Sarawak carded a two-day total of 147 to beat Winnie Ng by three strokes while Natasha Andrea Oon finished third three strokes further back.
Winners were decided on scores for two days as the competition was washed out by heavy rain on Thursday.
However, Ashley was unable to enjoy the main prize, a one-year scholarship from Hills Golf Academy, Gold Coast, Australia this year as she had already extended the scholarship by another year after having won the Hills Australian Junior Open earlier this month.
“I am extremely delighted to retain my title today and training at Hills Australia has helped my game tremendously. I would like to thank AmBank Group and SportExcel for organising this tournament,” Ashley who won the scholarship after emerging as the best overall player last year was quoted as saying in a statement from AmBank.
Another Sarawakian Lim Beng Keat, who hails from Miri, clinched the Boys 15-18 years crown after posting a two-day total score of 147, finishing one stroke ahead of Adam Arif Madzri (OCB) and Pattanan Bruminthent of Thailand.
Sarawak’s up and coming junior golfer Angel Hii also earned a podium finish after coming in third in the Girls 13-14 years category with a score of 165.
The title went to Thailand’s Panchalika Arphamongkol who carded a 152, followed by G Vinisha in second place with a 163.
In the Boys 13-14 category, Dubai-based Malaysian Zubair Firdaus clinched his maiden title with a comfortable nine stroke win over Thai challenger Ariyawat Ju-Prang.
It also earned him the lucrative scholarship, worth approximately RM150,000 or A$45,000.
Zubair, who trains at the European Tour Performance Institute in Jumeirah Golf Estate, wants to train harder and retain the title next year.
“I am quite happy to win this tournament and was looking forward for a top 10 finish but was surprised to win the title. As I am based in Dubai, my next tournament will also be there,” he said.
Thailand claimed all other titles, namely the Girls 13-14, Girls U12 and Boys U12 categories.
The Tan Sri Azman Hashim challenge trophy, named after the AmBank Group chairman, was won by the Best Player from the Blue Tee (Boys 13-14 and 15-18 category) winner Zubair and the White Tee (Girls 13-14 and 15-18 category) winner Ashley Lau.
Prizes were presented by SportExcel chairman Tunku Tan Sri Imran Tuanku Ja’afar, AmBank Group Corporate Communications and Marketing head Syed Anuar Syed Ali and AmBank Islamic CEO Eqhwan Mokhzanee.