KUCHING: Matthew Peregrime Ong has come of age with his breakthrough victory at the 16th Sarawak Chief Minister”s Cup International Junior Golf Championship at Kelab Golf Sarawak on November 18 this year.
He was only five years and four months when he first joined this competition in 2007, making history as the youngest golfer in Malaysia to compete in Boys Group C.
He carded a 156, 153, 156 for a three-day total score of 465 at the time to win a special prize as the most hardworking boy at the championship.
Seven years later at the KGS course, Matthew beat a field of 11 players including two Thai juniors with a three-day total of 256 (79, 88, 89) to lift the Boys C title. The win came as a big surprise to his father Basil who did not expect the 12-year-old SJK Chung Hua Mile 4 1/2 pupil to beat the older and more experienced opponents in his group.
“I was just trying to prepare him mentally for further tournaments and credit must be given to KGS pro coach Malkit Singh, under whom Matthew and those in the KGS junior development programme have improved tremendously,” he said.
In particular, Basil added, Matthew’s swing had improved in the past one and a half years.
“That goes for the same for his confidence level too.”
Among other youngsters who showed improvement are Anson Yeo, Mohd Aiman Al-Hakim who won the Boys D title in the Sarawak Chief Minister’s Cup, Saxen Hii and his sister Angel, who were winners at MSSM golf competition this year.
Matthew also won the nett title at the recent KGS Captain’s Trophy at KGSwith his score of 70.
Basil emphasised that Matthew would have to work harder and play in more tournaments to gain more experience and strengthen his mental toughness to continue excelling.
“I hope he can bring his game to a higher level and do well in future tournaments,” said Basil who is also a KGS committee member.