The launch was officiated by YB Hannah Yeoh, Minister of Youth and Sports
Yayasan Kecemerlangan Sukan Malaysia (SportExcel) launched its inaugural U.S. Kids Golf Malaysia Local Tour 2023 presented by Mazda, with its first two one-day tournaments to be played at the Kelab Golf Negara Subang (KGNS) on 31 October and 1 November 2023. The other four one-day tournaments will be held at the Penang Golf Resort on 19 and 20 November 2023, and A’Famosa Resort, Melaka, on 2 and 3 December 2023. A maximum field of 108 players per tournament is expected. The launch was officiated by YB Hannah Yeoh, Minister of Youth and Sports and YAM Tunku Tan Sri Imran Tuanku Jaafar, founder & Chairman of SportExcel at Menara KBS.
U.S. Kids Golf Local Tours are created to provide boys and girls, ages 5 to 18, the opportunity to advance their skills in the game in age-appropriate competition without having to take the time and incur the costs of travelling long distances.
The juniors will compete in nine age-group categories for boys and five age-group categories for girls, and teeing off from eight different teeing areas, giving each age-group appropriate yardage to play from.
Upon completion of the Local Tour, SportExcel will hold a multi-day International Championship – the U.S. Kids Golf Malaysia Championship at the Glenmarie Golf & Country Club from 29 January to 1 February 2024.
The three-day tournament is only open to qualified players from the Local Tours around the world. These players will be invited based on the Priority Status level that they have achieved.
Similarly, players who played in the Local Tour here, who have achieved a Priority Status of Level 4 or higher, will automatically get an invitation to play in International Championships abroad, such as the Indian Championship, European Championship, Venice Open, Australian Masters, British Kids Championship, and more.
The press conference
Ultimately, as a junior plays better and moves up the Priority Status to level 11 or higher, they will get an invitation to play in the world-renowned U.S. Kids Golf World Teen Championship (13-18 years old) and U.S. Kids Golf World Championship (5-12 years old) in Pinehurst, North Carolina, USA.
SportExcel sees the U.S. Kids Golf tournaments as a platform to grow and develop grassroots players as young as five. At the same time, the better elite players can use this platform to qualify and play in International Championships in other parts of the world.
As part of SportExcel’s vision of nurturing junior sporting excellence, it intends to take this program to the four corners of Malaysia, running 6-8 one-day Local Tour tournaments in the Central, Northern and Southern Zones and East Malaysia. Young golfers from these zones can travel a short distance to play a quality tournament against players of their age group and gender in a course set-up to match their hitting distances.
The Local Tour is made possible with the sponsorship from Bermaz Motor Trading Sdn Bhd., the distributor and retailer of new and pre-owned Mazda marque vehicles and the provision of after-sales services and spare parts in Malaysia. As the presenter of the Local Tour, Mazda has contributed RM100,000 cash to the tournament. This enables SportExcel to incorporate a cash rebate programme for Malaysian players to help reduce the cost of participation. Malaysian players who play six tournaments will receive a cash rebate of RM800 while playing in less than six will earn them RM100 per tournament.
Aside from the Mazda sponsorship, SportExcel has also garnered funds from The Agency College Recruit (AR). This US-based consultancy company brought the U.S. College Sports Camp into Asia and Malaysia in June 2023. AR specialises in recruiting athletic and entertainment talents and placing them into U.S. colleges that offer scholarships.
While Leonian (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd sponsors golf products and prizes to the juniors, SportExcel also receives support and cooperation from Perbadanan Padang Golf Subang (PPGS) and the Ministry of Youth and Sports. This cooperation with SportExcel is part of the Ministry’s vision through Sports for All initiative to include more opportunities for girls in golf and support junior development in golf.
