Ong (second left) with Hoan (second right), Chuo (left) and Tan about to burst the giant balloon to mark the opening of the championship at KGS yesterday. — Photos courtesy of KGS
KUCHING: The first series of the Sarawak Sports Corporation (SSC) Junior Golf Championship kicked off yesterday at Kelab Golf Sarawak (KGS) in Petra Jaya with 38 participants.
Among them is 12-year-old Reynard Lau Yi Jun who is the sole representative from Sibu.
The SJK Chung Sin primary student, who was accompanied by his personal coach Ronnie Tang Gui Yik, is competing in the Boys B category.
The championship is divided into Boys/Girls A, B and Nine Holes Boys & Girls Combined categories and will end today (Wednesday).
“I am pleased with the response and the participation could have been more from outside Kuching if not for the Covid-19 pandemic.
“We had to organise and run this competition because we cannot afford to wait until the pandemic is over.
“However, the series of this event will be run with strict compliance to the Standard Operating Procedures set by the authorities,” SSC chief executive officer Dr Ong Kong Swee said after opening the championship yesterday.
Sibu’s sole representative Reynard Lau (second right) and his coach Ronnie Tang (second left) and (from left) Kulleh Tajang, Jed Ho Yuk Pin and tournament organising chairman Anthony Tang.
Accompanying Ong were Sarawak Golf Association president Hoan Kee Hock, organising chairman Anthony Tan Hong Chiang and KGS golf captain Henry Chuo Kuong Hang.
“Just like the SSC Junior Badminton Circuit, we will bringing the series to Damai Golf and Country Club (after Hari Raya Adilfitri), Miri, Bintulu, Sibu and Samarahan before the Grand Final in Kuching,” added Ong who is also Sarawak State Sports Council director.
“We will use the points system where the winners will be awarded points and the top 12-finisher of each category shall qualify for the Grand Final at the end of the year.
“SSC would like to thank SGA and KGS for their unwavering support to promote and develop golf in Sarawak, especially at the grassroots level,” he said.
Ong said SSC will implement a similar programme for other sports which do not have junior development programmes.
Among the objectives of the SSC Junior Golf Championship series are identifying and producing future gold champions; providing a good platform for the juniors to display their skills; provide competition exposure to both elite and junior golfers; building a bigger base of juniors for selection into the state squad and to instill a positive spirit in the junior golfers.
Meanwhile, Hoan hailed the initiative taken by SSC to organise the series of junior golf tournaments statewide.
“We truly appreciate SSC efforts and together with KGS, we will give our fullest cooperation and collaboration to SSC to make the programme a big success.
“In the long run, we can also help produce high calibre golfers to represent Sarawak at all levels,” he added.