The Asian Tour will return to Malaysia for the third time this season for the Sabah Masters, which takes place at Sutera Harbour Golf and Country Club in Kota Kinabalu from November 21 to 24.
Offering a prize purse of US$300,000, the Sabah Masters will be the ninth full-field event on the Asian Tour this season. The event is supported by Tourism Malaysia with the aim of boosting tourism in Sabah, a Malaysian state located on the northern portion of Borneo island. The event is also featured as part of the 2019 PGM Tour schedule.
Malaysia’s Ben Leong, an Asian Tour winner who hails from Kota Kinabalu, lauded the staging of the event. “It’s going to be awesome playing an Asian Tour event at home. We have played in Sabah on the Asian Development Tour (ADT) but this is the first time in 20 years that we are playing an Asian Tour event here. It will be a great boost for Sabah,” he said.
“I am sure all the players will have a great time in Sabah. The food is great here and everything is close by. Sutera Harbour is a modern resort golf course. It can play fairly straightforward or difficult, depending on how the officials set it up,” added Leong, who won the 2008 Worldwide Selangor Masters for his first and only Asian Tour title.
Cho Minn Thant, Asian Tour commissioner and CEO, said: “I would like to thank Tourism Malaysia and Sutera Harbour for their support. I am sure this event will help promote Sabah as a tourist destination through the Tour’s global coverage via its digital media channels and television platform. I look forward to a successful staging of the Sabah Masters next month.”
Sutera Harbour general manager Rick Blackie also expressed his excitement, saying: “We are very pleased to see the Sabah Masters return to its spiritual home at Sutera Harbour Resort for the 2019 running of the tournament.
“Now that the event is flying under the banner of the one of the world’s major tours, the Asian Tour; it will great to showcase our course and the Resort to the best golfers in the region and see how they fare.”
Designed by Graham Marsh, Sutera Harbour boasts 27 holes for day and night golfing and has garnered various awards over the years.
The Asian Tour last visited Kota Kinabalu when the Sabah capital held the 2008 Qualifying School in multiple locations in December 2007. Leong topped the class in front of his home supporters that year for his second straight Qualifying School win.
