The Italian team
Participants of the World Amateur Golfers Championship world finals got their first taste of the host venues with scheduled practice rounds at Kuala Lumpur Golf & Country Club, Glenmarie Golf & Country Club, Kelab Rahman Putra and Kota Permai Golf & Country Club.
All the participants were extremely happy with the course conditions although there were some remarks about the length of the course at Rahman Putra.
According to Tournament Director Yeoh Chin Nam , due to the wet conditions, the ‘preferred lie’ ruling would be in place on all four days. Participants will be allowed to mark, lift, clean their balls and place within one club length of the original spot, not nearer the hole. However this will only be allowed on fairways and areas mown to fairway height.
The Nigerian team, which practiced at KLGCC, were excited to be in Malaysia as this was their first time. Mohammed Sanusi Daggash said they were very pleased with the course condition and layout of the course. They had also heard that KLGCC had hosted a PGA Tour event for several years and that it also had the TPC status attached to it.
Mohammed hoped that more African nations would register and participate in the WAGC. He was happy to learn that four new countries had signed up and were present for this world final. “It is a great event. It brings golfers from all continents to one place for golf and enjoyment.”
A 22-strong Italian team from Milan captained by Marco Carlo Foi have been looking forward to this trip, especially as the world final could not be held for two years due to the coronavirus pandemic.
“We are very excited to be here,” said Marco who has been captaining the Italians since the 2015 world finals. “It has been quite a long journey for us but thankfully most of us managed to get some sleep on the aircraft.”
The Italians, as expected, were doing their best to enjoy themselves although they took their golf seriously. “You either win or lose, but you have to remember that this is a sport. Still, we are here to enjoy ourselves,” said Fausto Maserati. “We love this course and we’re looking forward to the other three.”
Suchart Chalermkarnchana is one of five players representing Thailand which is competing in the world final for the first time. The other team members include Deja Klakasikich, Nuttawuth Siriseth, Joel Hug and Benja Nipitkulthong, the only female member of the team.
“I’m no stranger to Kuala Lumpur but being here to compete in a world event is something I hadn’t dreamt of,” said Suchart. “We didn’t have national qualifying rounds like in Malaysia and other countries. The five players were selected from one qualifying round.”
Germany are well represented by a 26-player contingent including Michael Bradley who is actually Irish. He has been living in Germany for over 30 years and this was a great opportunity to visit a south-east Asian country.
“I’ve been looking forward to this. I’ve heard a lot about Kuala Lumpur and Malaysia and hopefully I’ll do well in the tournament,” said Michael.
Jerzy Dudek and his Polish teammates at KLGCC
Another player here for the first time is Hampus Svensson Bjorner from Sweden. “I love travelling and golf is a great way to make new friends. This is a wonderful tournament and it’s great to be here.”
Of great interest to soccer fans, especially those who support Liverpool, is Jerzy Dudek who kept goal for the English Premier League club between 2001-2007, making 127 appearances. Representing Poland here, Dudek is mostly remembered for his incredible saves in the European Champions League final against AC Milan. Despite trailing 0-3, the Merseysiders scored three goals to force a penalty shootout, of which Dudek made two saves to help his team lift the trophy.
Poland have arrived with a team of 33 players but they are second in size to Spain, which have the largest contingent with 36 players.
WAGC President Isac Saminathan said he was pleased with the turnout from the competing countries, notwithstanding the two-year period standstill due to the pandemic. He said the contingent of 500 players is the biggest in the series so far.
“In fact Brazil and Vietnam who won the 2018 world final in Johor, had to withdraw at the last minute. But the addition of new countries in France, UAE, Turkey and Thailand is proof that this event is growing. We have had interest from other countries for next year’s world final,” added Isac.
Round one of the world finals starts on Tuesday on all four venues. The best four scores out of the five players in a team will be taken into account on each of the four days, and the team with the lowest total at the end will be declared the champions.
Among the participating countries include Azerbaijan, Austria, Australia, China, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Italy, Malaysia, Moldova, Netherlands, Nigeria, the Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Suriname, Sweden, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United States, Pakistan.
