Danny Chia
An intriguing contest for the professionals and amateurs is on the cards when the Corolla Cup tees off at the Royal Perak Golf Club on Tuesday. Headlining the field are three winners in the Toyota Tour so far – Danny Chia who won the Tun Ahmad Sarji Trophy in March, Nicholas Fung at the Hilux Cup in Sabah and Edven Ying who won the last event, the Vios Cup at Templer Park Country Club.
Rising stars like Toyota Tour leading money earner Ervin Chang, Shahriffuddin Ariffin, Paul San and Galven Green are all competing in two ADT events in Thailand, and in their absence, veterans Danny and Nicholas will start the early favourites. This also paves the way for other players to make their mark, like veteran Sukree Othman who started as a caddy at RPGC before becoming a driving range attendant and finally becoming a professional.
Ben Leong
Another seasoned campaigner, Ben Leong will want to contend again, like he did at the Hilux Cup. “I’ve been having good practice rounds and made some changes to my full swing. I’m looking forward to teeing it up again in the Toyota Tour,” said Ben who will be making his first appearance at the challenging Royal Perak GC course.
Meanwhile, apart from getting used to his new irons and wedges, Danny is pretty happy with his game. “Royal Perak? Gosh, it’s been a long time since I last played there, probably when I was an amateur,” said Danny whose victory at the Tun Ahmad Sarji Trophy at Saujana GCC was his first after five years. “I don’t think I can remember the layout even,” said the 51-year-old.
Aretha Pan
The Corolla Cup is the fifth leg of the Toyota Tour presented by UMW Toyota Motor and delivered by MST Golf Group Berhad. The men’s purse for the Corolla Cup is RM180,000 with the winner receiving RM31,500. In the ladies’ category, the winner will receive RM10,000 from a pool of RM30,000.
In the amateur category, there are a host of players who will definitely light up the course with their talents and skills. Leading them is of course Nasrullah Zulkifli who has had some success so far on the Toyota Tour. But watch out for Marcus Lim, Nateeshvar Anatha Ganesh and Victor Ng who are ready to provide excitement at Royal Perak.
Marcus, who won the Tan Sri Muhyiddin event at KLGCC last month had won the team gold medal at last year’s Hanoi Sea Games with Nateeshvar. Victor was the winner at the recent TaylorMade Golf Day, scoring seven birdies without bogey on the tight East Course of KLGCC. Another player to watch is Danny Milis, enjoying his summer break from college in the US.
Jocelyn Chee
The Ladies’ category is led by leading money earner Aretha Pan, Geraldine Wong and recent winner at the Vios Cup Jocelyn Chee. Also returning to the Toyota Tour is Ainil Abu Bakar who has been competing on the LETAS Tour in Europe.
