
KUALA LUMPUR: The National Golf Academy at Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM-NGA) has taken a bold step in formalising a collegiate golf series – a first of its kind in the country.
The Kejohanan Golf Institusi Pengajian Tinggi is aimed at providing regular competitive outings for undergraduates and students from the various higher education institutions (HEIs) in the country.
The series will comprise of four regional tournaments, leading up to a grand finale at the Danau UKM Golf Club next February, in conjunction with the annual inter-varsity Sukan IPT.
Speaking at the launch of the series on April 8, UUM-NGA director Associate Professor Dr Azman Yasin shared that the novel initiative will hopefully address the shortage of dedicated competitions for HEIs students.
“We have a good pool of golfers across the higher education institutions in Malaysia but they do not get the opportunity to play against one another because of scheduling and location constraints. Furthermore, many of the existing state and national amateur tournaments are organised on weekdays, which clashes with the academic schedules of HEI students.
“Hence, we felt that by organising a proper circuit with tournaments held in various parts of the country, we can encourage these collegiate golfers to come out in bigger numbers. and test their skills against their peers in a competitive yet fun environment,” said Dr Azman.
He added that the series will be the perfect testing ground to select the Malaysian representatives for the World University Games (WUG) in Chinese Taipei later year.
The opening leg, hosted by the UUM Golf & Recreational Club saw a total of 42 participants and was dominated by UUM-NGA players.
Sazanur Iman Salenin topped the men’s division with a round of one-under 71 – defeating Mohd Zafran Abdullah of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia by a single shot. Taking the bronze was another UUM-NGA player Mohd Syakiran Johari (73).
In the ladies’ division, Tham Soot Yuet posted a two-over 74 to finish three strokes clear of stablemate Nurul Syahirah Afiqah Saparudin @ Nasir. Nur Afifah Mohd Razif completed a clean sweep for UUM-NGA, finishing third with a 78.