The 29th Asean Senior Amateur Golf Championships 2012

The 29th Asean Senior Amateur Golf Championships 2012 was held from 25 to 27 September 2012 at the Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club (KLGCC) and the Mines Resort and Golf Club (MRGC).  The announcement that SGSM would host the annual event was made at the end of the Closing Ceremony of the 28th Asean Senior Amateur Golf Championships 2011, hosted by the Federation of Philippines Amateur Senior Golfers Inc from 4 to 6 July 2011, at Mimosa Golf and Country Club (MGCC) and the Fontana Golf and Country Club (FGCC), Angeles City, Philippines.

It was the sixth time SGSM hosted the Asean Championships in the series and it is anticipated that SGSM would host the event again in 2017.

SGSM started working on the event as early as August 2011 by forming the Organising Committee, headed by the President of SGSM, Tan Sri Sallehuddin Mohamed. Subsequently the Committee held a number of meetings to plan the Championships and to raise sufficient funds to pay for the cost of running the event. Foremost in the mind of the President was his determination to raise the standard of the Championships in order to make it a recognised senior event in Asean.

In November 2011, the President secured CIMB Bank as the main sponsor with a pledge for RM200,000.00 which was later reduced to RM150,000.00. Consequently KLGCC and the MRGC were confirmed as the venues of the event and the Concorde Hotel, Kuala Lumpur as the Official Hotel for all the participants.

Accordingly, in February, 2012, SGSM made a full presentation of the event to the delegates attending the Confederation of Asean Senior Golfers’ Associations (CASGA) on 6 and 7 February, in Ayutthaya, Thailand. At this meeting also four resolutions presented by SGSM were approved and to be applied at the Championships. They were as follows:

The Entrance Fee to the Championships was raised to US170.00 per participant.

• The accepted maximum score for each round in the Nett category would not be more than minus four (-4) and 40 points for the  stableford category for exceptional scores returned in both the categories.
• Handicaps would be adjusted daily based on an Arbitrary Cut Table for those who returned exceptional scores.
• The last two days of the stroke competition be played on the same course and consequently the stableford play would also be played on the same course for two days.

There were 264 participants who took part in the championships comprising 32 from Brunei, 46 from Indonesia, 53 from Malaysia, 39 from the Philippines, 34 from Singapore, two from CASGA and 58 from Thailand. Half of the field played in the Stroke category and the other half in the Stableford category.

Day one of the Stroke category was played at MRGC while the Stableford category was played at KLGCC, Thereafter they changed round with the Stroke category playing at KLGCC and the Stableford category playing at MRGC for the next two days respectively. At KLGCC the event was played on the East Course as the West Course was declared unplayable for the championships due to over-fertilization of the greens.

A press conference was called on 18 September at KLGCC at 10.00 am. It was heartening and uplifting to note that on Friday, 21 September, the Star Metro released on its Sports page a glowing report on the 29th Asean Senior Amateur Golf Championships 2012 together with a photograph of the Organising Committee with the event poster in the background. A similar report was also published in the September issue of Clubhouse Golf Magazine.

As there were some wives accompanying the participants a separate programme was organised for the ladies to visit Putrajaya, the National Handicraft centre and Selangor Pewter.

Similarly some arrangements were made for four wives from the Thai contingent to play  two rounds of golf at Sri Selangor and the Mines.

As the Championships were played at KLGCC and MRGC each golf course had its own separate Tournament Director and two referees respectively. The Society is grateful to the officials and the cooperation of the respective course management staffs for their hard work and dedication given which resulted in the smooth running of the championships.

Day 1 for Stroke Play was held at MRGC while the “practice” round for Stableford Play was held at KLGCC. The Hon Minister of Youth and Sports who performed the official opening T- off played a round of golf with the President and two guests in a special flight. A special competition was held and mementoes were given away to the winners at the end of the game.. As for the Stroke Play at the MRGC it teed off smoothly without any hitches.

Day 2 for the Stroke Play was played at KLGCC. Although there was a little drizzle at KLGCC the game went on without hindrance.  However, it rained very heavily at MRGC and the Stableford game was suspended for three hours as a result. Day 3 proceeded well at both courses.

The Championships were successfully completed without any untoward incidents. The Society once again owed its appreciation to KLGCC and MRGC for their support in making the championships a successful and a memorable event.

The Opening Ceremony was most colourful and held on the grounds adjacent to the 18th green, East Course, KLGCC. The Hon Minister of Youth and Sports, YB Dato Ahmad Shabery Cheek officiated the Opening Ceremony which was successfully conducted under a very good weather condition albeit hot. It was very ceremoniously conducted as it included the raising of the respective countries’ flags and the CASGA flag. Seven policemen together with two drummers from the Royal Malaysian Police performed the raising of the flag.

One interesting change to the scene was the inclusion of the wives on stage where chairs were arranged for them to sit behind the VIPs. The presence of the ladies naturally added colour to the ceremony.

The introduction of the Hon Minister to the participants after the flag raising ceremony was most cordial as the Minister mingled freely and exchanged greetings with the participants.  There were also many photo sessions taken as a result.

The ceremony was followed by a reception by the pool side. There was plenty of mixing and chatting and free movements for the guests to sample the dishes which were served a la buffet and a la stalls. There were sufficient food served and enough choices to select from. The guests enjoyed the evening thoroughly as they were entertained by live music and singing by the participants themselves. The evening’s proceedings were appropriately handled by Datuk AS Khamis who was the Master of Ceremony. The reception would not have been possible had it not been for the support given by the Ministry of Youth and Sports. The Society would like to thank the Ministry for its kind gesture and contribution in making the Opening Ceremony a success.

The opening ceremony and the reception certainly gave the initial indication of the success and the standard of presentation and the achievements set for the rest of the event. There were a lot of praises and compliments made and Dato’ Sri Nordin and his committee deserved the accolade for an event well done.

There certainly were lots of work and preparations made for the Prize Presentation and the Closing Ceremony. Concorde Hotel also made a lot of contribution in turning the banquet hall into a place fit for a gala evening. Dato’ Shabrizan almost spent the entire day to prepare the seating plans. Datuk AS Khamis, the MC, within the short time available put his administrative programme together with the cultural dancers and the accompanying live music. At the same time the President also made adjustments to the seating plans at the main VIP table. As a last minute arrangement the participants and guests were held back in the foyer where soft drinks were served. Nevertheless it would seem at that point, the evening would unfold the best organised event as a climax to the three day event.

When it was announced that the participants could take their seats there was almost a stampede but it soon got under control as there were enough seats for everyone. By the time the main guest, YBhg Dato’ Mirza Mohmmad Taiyab, the Director General of Tourism Malaysia, was marched in, the atmosphere in the banquet hall had settled down to welcome him.

After all the speeches were delivered, dinner was served. Music and lively cultural shows were presented. The situation was very well controlled by the MC, Datuk AS Khamis who kept the audience alive by getting some of the guests to participate on stage to dance with the cultural group and later to sing as well. The Society would like to thank the Ministry of Tourism Malaysia for the support given for the dinner and the cultural presentation which became one of the highlights of the Closing Ceremony.

Unfortunately the prize giving ceremony went astray as some prize winners were given the wrong prizes for the various categories. By that time it was too late to correct the proceedings and all the MC could do was to announce apologetically that some prize winners had been given with the wrong prizes and that their correct prizes would be delivered to them later. It was indeed regrettable that the Prize Giving Ceremony should have marred what would have been a perfect 29th Asean Senior Amateur Golf Championships 2012.

It is heartening to note that besides having run a successful 29th Asean Senior Amateur Golf Championships 2012, the participants who represented the Society made a worthy name for themselves by winning three of the five main Prizes. Hamdan Zambahari came out the CASGA Champion with a score of 233 beating his close rival by 9 strokes. Hamdan walked away with the coveted Sallahuddin Challenge Trophy, the maroon champion jacket and a replica while Hamizan Derus became the nett champion with a score of 212 beating his rival by one stroke. He took away the Mondonedo Challenge Trophy and a replica. SGSM won the Gross Team championships with a score of 718 beating Singapore by 19 strokes. However, SGSM nett team could only be the runner up to ISGS which beat the Society by 8 strokes.

There were also participants from SGSM who came out as individual winners:

1. Datuk A S Khamis  - Gross 3rd
2. Mohammed Chudi Haji Ghazali  - Gross 8th
3. Eddy Chong Ah Choi - Group B - Winner
4. Dato' Chuah Teong Tat - Group B - Runner-up
5. David Loh Mun Dee - Group B - 4th
6. Dr. Bjinder Singh - Group B - 5th
7. Dr. Dayu Sansalu – Group C - Runner-up
8. Dato' Tan Seng Chee - Group D - Winner
9. Leong Yoke Mun - Group D - Runner-up
10. Peter Lee Kok Chiang - Group E - Runner-up

Kodos SGSM for almost bagging all the major prizes, an achievement which should drive the Society to perform even better in the next Asean Tournament.