Kota Kinabalu:  The honours were evenly split between West Malaysia and East Malaysia as the two-day President Challenge Trophy concluded today at Sabah Golf & Country Club today.

The East Malaysian ladies team claimed the Datuk Robin Loh trophy, defeating their Peninsular counterparts by a narrow one-point advantage while the West Malaysian men’s team lifted the Dato’ Thomas Lee trophy by a similar margin in the annual Ryder Cup-styled competition

The ninth edition of the annual challenge which began with the customary fourball and foursome sessions yesterday culminated with the deciding singles matches this afternon, which saw 16 matches contested in total – eight each in the ladies’ and men’s division. East Malaysia were the clear winners in yesterday’s fourball contest, claiming a 3-1 lead in both the men’s and ladies divisions before  the Peninsular lads evened out the competition with a 3-1 victory of their own in the afternoon foursome sessions.

With both team taking two victories apiece to square the foursome match, the East Malaysian ladies carried a two point-advantage into  the final day singles. Despite a 4 ½ –  3 ½ defeat by the West Malaysians today, the Borneo gals captained by reigning Malaysian Amateur Open champion Aretha Pan Herng held on to claim a 8 ½ – 7 ½ over their rivals from across the South China Sea.

The men’s singles saw an equally tight contest before the lads from West Malaysia eased to a one-point victory, garnering 4½ points to Sabah and Sarawak’s haul of  3 ½ for a final score of  8 ½ – 7 ½.

The challenge was mooted by past president Dato’ Thomas Lee in 2003 to foster better ties between the golfing fraternity in Peninsular and East Malaysia as well as promote a platform to foster better rapport between players from both sides of the nation. A ladies division was introduced by the then-president of MGA, Dato’ Robin Loh in 2009. The tournament is hosted by rotation in Peninsular Malaysia as well as Sabah and Sarawak yearly.

President Challenge Trophy results