Four promising junior golfers have been awarded slots in the US$1 million Bandar Malaysia Open, which tees off at Kota Permai Golf & Country Club next week,.
The quartet of Nateshvar A. Ganesh, Rizq Adam Rohizam, Nor Harith Nor Hadi and Hariz Hezri will be among the 40 Malaysians teeing up at Kota Permai Golf & Country Club on March 5-8.
Fresh from winning the amateur title at the Zurich PGAM Junior Invitational at Kota Permai after an opening round 66, 15-year-old Nateshvar will be hoping to carry that form over to next week.
“It surely feels great to have the chance to play at our national open. I will keep training hard this few days, especially on my short game to prepare for the championship. I will try to make the weekend cut,” said the Melaka lad.
Rizq Adam, who only last week won the Faldo Series at Impian Golf & Country Club, will be playing on familiar ground having been a member of Kota Permai for the past four years.
“I’ve not played here that often, but I’m kind of familiar with the course. It’s quite long and I don’t hit that far but I think it should be OK as my putting suits these slick greens,” said the 15-year-old, who is a Tiger Woods fan.
For Johorean Nor Harith Nor Hadi, 17, it was a dream come true to qualify for the Bandar Malaysia Open. For his maiden outing playing in a professional field, he hoped to do well but will not set any target.
Fifteen-year-old Hariz Hezri, who hails from Kedah, felt that the course suit his game but conceded that he had to put in a lot more practice on his putting these few days to play well.
“We are delighted to be able to offer playing opportunities to these talented juniors. They are the future of the game in our country, with hopefully a long and fruitful golfing career ahead, not only as amateurs but eventually as professionals,” said Arep Kulal, Chief Executive Officer of Winning Matters, the event promoter.
“We believe the experience that they will gain from being in the field, teeing up against top players from the Asian Tour and Japan Golf Tour, will put them in good stead for their future career development,” he added.
For updates go to www.themalaysianopen.com
