Four to carry the Malaysian flag at World Corporate Golf Challenge

PETALING JAYA: Four amateur golfers from Malaysia will compete in the final of the World Corporate Golf Challenge (WCGC) 2024 at Mission Hills Golf Club Haikou, Hainan, China from Oct 28 to Nov 1.

Anushka Gayan (handicap 6), Kong Tuck Keat (handicap 10), Lee Robert (handicap 11) and Ang Khai Phang (handicap 14) will compete with 116 players from 29 countries from Angola, Brazil, Chile, China, Colombia, Czech Republic, Dominican Republic, England, Ghana, India, Italy, Japan, Mauritus and Mauritius.

The other countries in the fay are New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway, Pakistan, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Scotland, Singapore, Slovakia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and Ukraine.

All players will tee off on the Blackstone course which is awarded as Asia’s best championship course and is the annual venue for the World Women’s Golf Championship and the biennial World Celebrity Pro-Am tournament.

Managing Director of Elora Global Sdn Bhd, Shoban Ramlu said, he was grateful to these four players who carry the Malaysian flag at the WCGC world finals in Hainan.

“This year I didn’t have time to hold a series of qualifying rounds due to lack of time. Therefore, I am grateful and greatly appreciate their own initiative to be willing to represent the country to China. I hope they do their best and make Malaysia’s name on the Corporate Golf World stage,” he said.

“I would also like to thank sponsors such as Skechers Malaysia, Bridgestone Golf, Templer Park Golf Club, Spectrum Outdoor, Iroas and ANC textiles who are willing to give sincere donations in preparation for the tournament in Hainan,” he said at Templer Park Country Club in Rawang recently.

Elora Global Company Sdn Bhd was appointed by WCGC management based in Madrid, Spain to organise the prestigious corporate golf tournament that was held in Malaysia slightly more than a decade ago.

Templer Park Country Club Managing Director Datuk Manibalan Kutty welcomed the return of Malaysia to the WCGC.

“We are proud to be associated with the WCGC, which we hosted before, and we are looking forward to be part of the prestigious event again,” he said.

“As one of the venues for the Malaysian legs next year, we look forward to the challenge. We welcome all the golfers to this course.”

Manibalan, who himself is an accomplished golfer, advised golfers of mid and high handicaps to not force their shots to get the distance as the course is long.

“Just keep in play and stay on the fairways. Wayward shots into the rough and trees can be punishing. All in, it is a great course designed by Jumbo Ozaki.”

Ozaki was a former Japanese professional who featured in the top 10 of the Official World Golf Rankings for almost 200 weeks between 1989 and 1998.

“We welcome WCGC back to Malaysia, and we believe we will see a successful event here. We wish our Malaysian representatives at this year’s world final the best,” added Manibalan.

Also on a comeback trail is one of the country’s top amateur players, who have several tournament wins under his belt.

Anushka laid off competitive golf for almost a year to heal his injured left arm. “It is good to be back after nursing this injury,” he said.

“I am aware of many amateur players from foreign countries who are great and good. But I will try to play well to make the country proud.”

Khai Peng said he believes practice being the important criteria of doing well in golf. “It is difficult to predict which country’s players will emerge as champions because there are 120 players who can be said to be all excellent because they can represent their respective countries. But I, like Anushka, will play our best to win in the world final,“ he added.

The WCGC world finals uses a team Stableford format (two players) that will combine points from the two days of the tournament.

First introduced in 1993 as a UK corporate golf programme in partnership with The Times newspaper, the WCGC has grown into an international network of events promoted and run by licensees around the world.

As such, WCGC offers an unparalleled platform for business development, whether through entertaining clients, incentivising employees or fostering business relationships through golf.

With the slogan “Bringing the Business World Together”, WCGC continues to grow rapidly and Malaysia is set to benefit significantly from its impact on the corporate landscape.