Ayer Keroh [MELAKA]: The Professional Golf of Malaysia (PGM) selection were given a run for their money before defeating the Indonesian Golf Tour (IGT) selection in the third playing of the annual matchplay championship.
The Malaysian squad skippered by veteran professional Ramayah Marimuthu prevailed 15½-12½ at Tiara Golf & Country Club on Friday to reclaim the championship trophy – and their pride – after last year’s 14½-8½ humbling away in Bogor.
There was little separating the two selection but local knowledge and a pre-tournament team bonding session paid dividends for the local selection as they edged the visitors 3-1 in both the foursome sessions.
The IGT selection – bolstered by four of Indonesia’s most promising amateur players, namely Kevin Caesario Akbar, Narajie Emerald Ramadhanputra, Jonathan Wijono and Almay R Yaqutah, were not to be outplayed as they bounced back to win the opening four ball session 3-1 before squaring the second day re-match at 2-2.
Armed with a two-point advantage going into the final day singles, the Malaysians suffered an early setback when Kevin Caesario won by three holes against an experienced Khor Kheng Hwai in the opening match.
Jeremiah Kim Leunkwang put the first point on the board for the home team with a 3&2 defeat of Elki Kow before local hero Shahrifuddin Ariffin – playing on his home tract – provided further cheers with a 3&2 win of his own against Narajie.
The IGT selection replied with back-to-back gains as Jonathan won 2-holes against Sukree Othman before Almay beat Sivachandhran Supramaniam on the closing hole.
Amir Nazrin Jailani – one of the team’s standout performers – helped the home team regain its two-point cushion with a 5&4 demolition of Benny Kasiadi but it proved a temporary relief as Jordan Irawan and Indra Hermawan claimed two points with their wins over Nachimuthu Ramasamy (1-hole) and Daeng Abdul Rahman Abdul Aziz (1-hole) respectively.
In the end, the trio of Muhd Wafiyuddin Abdul Manaf, Kemarol Baharin and Kenneth De Silva ensured victory for the home team with solid individual performances down the final stretch, winning their respective matches against George Gandranata, Fajar Win Nuryanto and Rinaldi Adiyandono.
The strong fighting display by the lads left non-playing captain Ramayah to declare: “We are very happy that we were able to regain the trophy that we lost last year. Our opponents were up for a fight – the three young and hungry amateurs brought a different dimension to their challenge this year. It was a tough battle but our boys were up for it and I’m extremely proud to have skippered this selection.”
FULL RESULTS
DAY 1 FOURSOME [PGM 3 IGT 1]
Shahriffuddin Ariffin|R. Nachimuthu BEAT George Gandranata|Fajar Win Nuryanto 1-HOLE
Sukree Othman|Kemarol Baharin LOST TO Benny Kasiadi|Almay R. Yaqutah (A) 2&1
Khor Kheng Hwai|Kim Leunkwang BEAT Jonathan Wijono (A)|Rinaldi Adiyandono 4&3
S. Sivachandhran|Amir Nazrin BEAT Narajie ER Putra (A)|Kevin C Akbar (A) 4&3
DAY 1 FOURBALL [PGM 1 IGT 3]
Kenneth De Silva|Mohd Nazri Zain LOST TO Elki Kow|Jordan Irawan 1-HOLE
Daeng Abdul Rahman|Wafiyuddin Abd Manaf LOST TO Narajie ER Putra (A)|Kevin C Akbar (A) 1-HOLE
Kim Leunkwang|Shahrifuddin Ariffin LOST TO Benny Kasidi|Almay R Yaqutah (A) 5&4
R. Nachimuthu|Amir Nazrin BEAT Jonathan Wijono (A) |George Gandranata 1-HOLE
DAY 2 FOURSOME [PGM 3 IGT 1]
Khor Kheng Hwai|Kim Leunkwang BEAT Rinaldi Adiyandono|Adrian Halimi 2&1
Kemarol Baharin|Kenneth De Silva LOST TO Jordan Irawan|Elki Kow 1-HOLE
Wafiyuddin Abd Manaf|Daeng Abdul Rahman BEAT Benny Kasiadi|Almay R Yaqutah (A) 3&1
S. Sivachandhran|Amir Nazrin BEAT George Gandranata|Fajar Win Nuryanto 5&4
DAY 2 FOURBALL [PGM 2 IGT 2]
Shahriffuddin Ariffin|Sukree Othman BEAT Narajie ER Putra (A)|Kevin C Akbar (A) 2-HOLES
Mohd Nazri Zain|S. Sivachandhran LOST TO Jonathan Wijono (A)|George Gandranata 1-HOLE
Kemarol Baharin|Kenneth De Silva BEAT Jordan Irawan|Indra Hermawan 1-HOLE
R. Nachimuthu|Amir Nazrin LOST TO Elki Kow|Fajar Win Nuryanto 1-HOLE
DAY 3 SINGLES [PGM 6½ IGT 5½]
Khor Kheng Hwai LOST TO Kevin C Akbar (A) 3&2
Kim Leunkwang BEAT Elki Kow 3&2
S. Sivachandhran LOST TO Almay R Yaqutah (A) 1-HOLE
Shahriffuddin Ariffin BEAT Narajie ER Putra (A) 3&2
Sukree Othman LOST TO Jonathan Wijono (A) 1-HOLE
R. Nachimuthu LOST TO Jordan Irawan 1-HOLE
Daeng Abdul Rahman LOST TO Indra Hermawan 1-HOLE
Wafiyuddin Abdul Manaf BEAT George Gandranata 1-HOLE
Amir Nazrin BEAT Benny Kasiadi 5&4
Kemarol Baharin BEAT Fajar Win Nuryanto 2&1
Kenneth De Silva BEAT Rinaldi Adiyandono 1-HOLE
Mohd Nazrin Zain A/S Adrian Halimi (match not played)
