Kuala Lumpur: National Nur Durriyah Damian stamped her mark as the early favourite for the Piala Perdana Puteri as she coasted to a massive eight-shot advantage after the opening round of the Malaysian Junior Closed Championship presented by Mizuno and GolfHouse on Tuesday.
The 17-year-old topped the girls’ division with a round of two-under 70 at Kelab Golf Perkhidmatan Awam ahead of Sarfina Vinota Seretharan and Asha Lakshme Balakrishnan, who were tied for second on six-over 78. Amalia Shahzan and Lai Wan Wei were one stroke adrift to completed the top five.
“I was hitting the ball quite well,” said Durriyah, who had a miserable outing at the 29th Malaysian Ladies Amateur Open last week when she came in tied 29th. “Last week was pretty disappointing after my runner-up finish in 2011, so I was able to reflect and spend some time at the range over the weekend. I am just happy with the way my game turned out today.”
In the boys’ division, national back-up player Ervin Chang opened his campaign with an assured display, carding a flawless two-under 70 to enjoy a three-shot lead over Kuhanesh Ganesan and Aizat Nazhief, who posted matching one-over 73. Penangite Bryan Teoh Wiyang and Sabah Amateur Open winner Paul San were a further two shots behind.
The 14-year-old Chang got off the starting blocks strongly, carding two birdies to make the turn on two-under 34 before holding on for a bogey-less par-36 inward stretch. “I am happy to return sub-par round and I hope I can finish strongly again tomorrow,” said Chang.
“Tomorrow I plan to take one hole at a time and let my clubs work its magic,” he added.
Leading first round scores (boys):
70 – Ervin Chang
73 – Kuhanesh Ganesan, Aizat Nazhief
75 – Bryan Teoh Wiyang, Paul San Weng Yau
76 – Danial Hj Mohd Sidek, Ranjeesh Sathuraman, Amir Nazrin Jailani
77 – Sim You Jin, Albright Chong
78 – Mohd Zulhelmi Ramle, Danial Durisic, Aaerishna Shahsthy
Leading first round scores (girls):
70 – Nur Durriyah Damian
78 – Sarfina Vinota Seretharan, Asha Lakshme Balakrishnan
79 – Amalia Shahzan, Lai Wan Wei
80 – Siti Zulaikhaa Shaari, Genevieve Ling I-Rynn
83 – Nur Eliana Ariffin
84 – Lim Ai Lynn
85 – Celine Lim, Qistina Balqis Azhar
