PETALING JAYA: A big surprise awaited the participants of the second leg of the four-tournament Srixon Malaysian Junior Development Tour series that took place at Royal Perak Golf Club from Oct 17-20.
The “elite experience” promised at each venue, that would go a long way towards “Turning Junior Golfers Into Polished Professionals”, was more than fulfilled when the Raja Di-Hilir of Perak, Raja Iskandar Dzurkarnain Ibni Almarhum Sultan Idris Iskandar, graced the occasion and presented prizes to the champions in each of the three age groups, both boys and girls.
The Boys A Champion, 15-18 years old, was won by Muhammad Ajmal Amin Mohd Fajri, handicap 3, when he returned with a gross score of 227 comprising rounds of 77-71-79. Having finished runner-up in the first leg at Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Golf & Country Club, he was delighted with the victory. Coming in a close second, in his first appearance in the series, was Otso Jere Ville Juvonen, also handicap 3, on a 229 total after rounds of 74-78-77.
Kong Disheng Derrick, handicap 6, took third on 232 (79-76-77), Shaiful Asri bin Shaiful Kumar (8), fourth on 232 (74-78-80) and Nathan Wong Tsen Jac (4), fifth on 233 (79-76-78).
In the Girls A category, Sohniya Chandra Mohan emerged champion with a gross score of 230. Playing off handicap 5, she recorded rounds of 78-77-75. In the first leg of the series, she was runner-up to Yan Yinuo, however, Yan had to withdraw due to an injury after the first round.
Second went to Kwak Minji (2) on 233 following rounds of 84-73-76. Janice Kwan (5) took third on 234 (79-79-76), while Aarthi Ganesan (8) was fourth on 236 (74-81-81) and Siti Nurfarah Fasha Mohamad Hasan (7) was fifth on 242 (79-81-82).
The next age group, Boys B, 13-14 years old, was won by Andrew Yap Yung Cheng, handicap 6, with a score of 228. He played rounds of 77-77-74 to become champion for the second time and earn full points in the Order of Merit. He was also the winner of the first leg where he finished on 237.
In hot pursuit was Lim Hao Yu (11) on 232 after rounds of 77-81-74. Third went to Evann Wong Tsen Sze (8) on 239 (79-79-81), fourth was Connor Axel Liew Kai (8) on 242 (78-80-84), while Muhammad Adlan Mohamad Nizan (10) collected fifth on 243 (81-82-80).
The runaway winner in the Girls B category was Ngo Yi Belle (11) who carded rounds of 78-76-75 for a 229 total. Her closest rival was Nur Batrisyia Balqis Abdul Ghani (10) on 241 (85-75-81). Ngo was third in the first leg, where Nur Batrisyia Balqis was the champion.
Siti Nur Husna Aina Abd Karim Nast (14) took third on 244 following rounds of (81-80-83), fourth went to Nur Diana Syafiqah Abdullah (11) on 254 (83-84-87), while Nur Alisya Qistina Mohd Zainurin (11) was fifth on 261 (87-90-84).
The youngest competitors in the 10-12 age group put on an amazing display, with the winner of the Boys C category chalking up his personal best score to date. Daichi Hayashi, playing off handicap 10, carded rounds of 64-72 for a 136 total and top honours in his category.
His first round score caused raised eyebrows and looks of admiration from all present, especially the guest of honour. He was also a winner in the first leg in Shah Alam and now has full Order of Merit points, putting him top of the leaderboard in his category.
Maverick Chua (13) was second on 146 (75-71), third went to Uwais Alqarni Shahmira (15) on 151 (75-76), fourth to Tan Yu Hong (18) on 151 (75-76) and fifth to Liew Zun Xin (15) on 159 (76-83).
The Girls C winner was Wang En Xi playing off handicap 16. She finished with a 155 total after rounds of 74-81 in her first appearance in the tournament series. Jane Sim (28) took second on 165 (85-80), third went to Vikasni Laakshithaa Bala Subramaniam (12) on 168 (84-84), fourth went to Jamie Kwan Yu Xuan (19) on 168 (83-85) and fifth to Deepikaa Ganesan (19) on 171 (86-85).
A number of the winners at Royal Perak Golf Club were also winners in the first round at Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Golf & Country Club. Amongst them were Nathan Wong Tsen Jac and Adam Harithz Norazril, who were third and fourth respectively in the Boys A category. Kwak Minji and Siti Nurfarah Fasha Mohamad Hasan, who were third and fourth in the Girls A category. Muhammad Adlan Mohamad Nizam, Lim Hao Yu and Evann Wong Tsen Sze who finished second, third and fourth in the Boys B category.
In the Girls B, only Nur Diana Syafiqah Abdullah featured in the Top-5, finishing second. The Boys C had Uwais Alqarni Shahmira claiming third and Maverick Chua, fourth, while the Girls C had Vikasni Laakshithaa Bala Subramaniam and Jane Sim, who finished first and second respectively.
Finishing once again in the Top-5 bodes well for their Order of Merit ranking and, with two more tournaments to be completed and the final venue offering additional points, it’s still open for anyone to emerge overall champion in each age group.
Nett prizes were also awarded to the Top-3 finishers in each category.
Boys A was won by Zarif Halim Abdul Halim (22) with rounds of 64-58-64 (186), second was Lee Sihyeon (15) 64-68-67 (199) and third to Nur Rahmat Akhmal Idrus (11) 74-65-70(209).
Girls A was won by Sharni Nagalingam (12) 69-70-68 (207), second went to Andrea Chin Yen Xing (12) 70-74-68 (212), while Hiromi Yamamoto (9) 74-74-74 (222) was third.
Alif Iskandar Ishak (24) won Boys B 68-66-68 on 202, second was Aaron Avanesh Puvanesvaran (24) 72-66-65 (203), while Anis Dylan Sinno (16) took third on 205 67-73-65.
Lee Hyeonseo (31) won the Girls B 60-62-56 (178), second was Myra Maisyura Muhammad Sofee (23) 67-72-63 (202), and third was Chai You Chi (28) 69-69-64 (202).
Boys C was won by Wong Khaizen (24) 54-63 (117), second was Ching Jing Sheng (24) 62-59 (121), and third was Li Liteng (24) 60-61 (121).
The last group of Girl C was won by Mavis Chua (34) 57-55 (112), second was Wong Jo Yi (36) 56-63 (119) and third was Aleesya Maisarah Hairizal (35) 63-65 (128).
The 3rd leg in the series will take place in Johor, at Palm Resort Golf & Country Club from Nov 29 to Dec 1, 2022.
