KUALA LUMPUR: The Royal Selangor Golf Club (RSGC) Ladies Amateur Open Championship hopes to attract some of the region’s best women amateur golfers in a bid to raise its standing on the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR).
The prestigious championship was one of only four golf competitions in Malaysia to be ranked Category D by The R&A last year, but organising chair Dato’ Yasmin Yusuff is confident that a strong field, including first-timers Australia, will further elevate its standing.
“The calibre of the entries is very exciting, as we already have six entries at handicap between +2 and 0. It has an important bearing on our event, as it means that we are now attracting better players, and the news of our event is spreading further. This also means Kuala Lumpur is becoming recognised as a venue for world-class amateur ladies golf,” noted Yasmin, who is also The RSGC’s lady captain.
“To date, we have received entries from Indonesia, Japan, the Philippines, Vietnam, Hong Kong and for the first time, seven players from Golf Australia’s junior golf program have confirmed their participation.
“Similarly, the Malaysian Golf Association (MGA) and Malaysian Ladies Golf Association (MALGA) will also nominate some of their best players for this championship. It is our aspiration that with more elite players in the field, this championship can be on the same standing as the Malaysian Ladies Amateur Open (MLAO), which last year rose to Category C,” she added.
Yasmin also thanked the Malaysian Ladies Golf Association (MALGA) for extending their co-operation to The RSGC in creating a two-week swing of elite women’s amateur golf in the country, with the MLAO being played three days later at the Awana Genting Golf & Country Club in Pahang.
She also extended her gratitude to MYFutures Junior Tour, particularly chairman Ahmad Fauzi Ghazali, for encouraging their membership and network of golf associations in the region to support the championship.
Schedule from August 2-4, the championship, sanctioned by the Malaysian Golf Association, will be played on The RSGC’s composite East Course – which staged the inaugural Maybank Championship in 2016.
Participants will compete for the four coveted trophies – Tuanku Bahiyah (gross champion), Toh Puan Norashikin (nett champion), Datin Azian (team gross champion) and Clarissa Lee (team nett champion). The event is open to amateur players with a USGA handicap of 17.4 and lower.
This year, participants will once again enjoy a designated Players Lounge, complimentary foot massages, professional warm-up stretches before the round and official courtesy car services sponsored by Kia.
Fabulous hole-in-one prizes this year include a Mercedes A200, a Tahitian diamond and South Sea pearl ring worth RM16,000 from La Putri and a Titoni watch, as well as many other prizes.
The sponsors for the event include Metro Kajang Holdings Berhad, Poh Kong, SenHeng Electric (KL) and Agile Properties. Impiana KLCC returns once again as the Official Tournament Hotel and 100 Plus as the Official Tournament Drink. Titoni is the official tournament timekeeper. This year, The Social Group will sponsor the welcome cocktail at The Social TREC.
Lady golfers interested in participating in the championship can visit the official website. The deadline for entries is July 25, 2019 (Thursday).
