Budding young talents, amateur golfers and some of the country's leading professionals came together in the inaugural PGAM-SGRK Pro-Junior Challenge at Bukit Beruntung Golf & Country Resort, a collaborative effort between the Professional Golf Association of Malaysia (PGAM) and the Kedah Junior Golf Circuit or Sirkit Golf Remaja Kedah (SGRK).

The innovative tournament saw 32 PGAM members teeing off with 46 junior golfers and 15 amateurs over two days (March 29-30) at the challenging Bukit Beruntung course. While the professional golfers competed separately for prize money and the juniors/amateurs were placed in various categories, the flights were mixed to enable the non-professionals to observe and learn from the professionals. There was also a team category based on the final day scores, where pros were paired with the juniors/amateurs.

SGRK chairman Dato' Yusoff Md Shah noted that the event provided an invaluable learning experience for the juniors and amateurs. "Tournaments such as these are not only very important from a competitive standpoint, but also help build relationships between the junior golfers and the professionals.

"I hope that the professionals will help to nurture the juniors who are here today, as they are the ones who will replace us in the future. Without the professionals to guide them, the juniors will not have direction, so I hope tournaments like these will continue," noted Dato' Yusoff.

Dato' Yuosff thanked the PGAM committee for their efforts in organising the event and also the Bukit Beruntung management for providing a good rate while ensuring that the golf course was in excellent condition.

PGAM president CM Chong concurred and noted that they will be looking at organising more similar events this year. "PGAM is also about developing golf in Malaysia and, as far as we can, we will involve juniors. It is at the junior level where development is lacking, so we will do our part as much as possible.

"This is the first time that we have collaborated with SGRK and we hope that this will move on to bigger things and more events in the future," said Chong.

Formed in 2015, SGRK operates as a non-profit organisation and is a collaborative effort by the parents of junior golfers, the Kedah Education Ministry and the Kedah Sports Council. The PGAM-SGRK Pro-Junior Challenge was their first event outside Kedah state.

RESULTS

Professionals (Top 10)
134 - Sukree Othman 66-68
137 - R. Nachimuthu 68-69
139 - Galven Green 70-69
140 - Ying Hock Hong 72-68
141 - Nicholas Fung 71-70
142 - Danny Chia 72-70, 
143 - Khor Kheng Hwai 73-70
144 - Zamri Sariff 75-69Nor Heikal bin Nor Hadi 73-71, Lam Kong Loong 71-73

Boys A (17-21) (Top 3)
154 - Nazran Shahrizan 76-78, Khor Jia Zhe 76-78, Sameer Ferdinand Raj 74-80
(Nazran won in sudden-death playoff)

Boys B (13-16) (Top 3)
143 - Nor Haqeim Nor Hadi 74-69
154 - Muhammad Danial Muhammad Nazari 79-75
155 - Putera Haikal Hakeem 84-71

Girls A (17-21) (Top 3)
152 - Lekisha Sasitharan 80-72
153 - Sohniya A/P Chandra Mohan 81-72
160 - Lucy Kim Ha Eun 80-80

Girls B (13-16) (Top 3)
155 - Alya Afza Hazari 79-76
157 - Ngo Yi Belle 85-72
171 - Siti Nurfarah Fasha Mohamad Hasan 86-85

Amateurs (Top 3)
146 - Muhamad Nasrullah Zulkifli 72-74
150 - Casper Loh 72-78
151 - Abdul Qadir Sirry-Yus-Saqti Mohd Aros 74-77, Roszali Baharuddin 77-74