Edvin Ying, Ruhanraj Vinayagam and Michelle Koh are the early favourites for top honours when the Harrier Cup tees off at the Kelab Golf DiRaja Pahang here starting tomorrow.
These three professionals grew up in Kuantan and honed their game at KGDP which is fondly known as Royal Pahang, an 18-hole layout beside the South China Sea that had its humble beginnings as a nine-hole course in 1964.
Ying, who turned professional two-and-a-half years ago, chalked up his first victory at the Vios Cup at scenic Templer Park Country Club in June last year. He is currently ranked 15th on the Toyota Tour Order of Merit.
Ruhanraj, whose father used to be the club’s resident professional many years ago, notched his breakthrough win at the Pahang Amateur Open in 2019 when he won in a play-off against Ying, Umar Khushairi and Victor Ng. He birdied the par 5 18th after finding the green in two.
While Ying and Ruhanraj acknowledges the fact that they will have an advantage over the rest of the field, most of whom will be competing at Royal Pahang for the first time, they both agreed that despite its flat layout, the course in no pushover.
“The course is not long but being so close to the coast, the wind can affect your choice of clubs and approach to the greens,” said Ruhanraj. “Apart from the wind, the defence of the course is tight pin placements and the rough which is thick and penalising.”
Both Ruhanraj and Ying agreed that the front nine is the scoring nine because of its wide fairways although hazards will come into play, like a drain that is barely visible from the teeboxes and dissects the fairways of holes 4, 6, 7, 8, 11 and 17.
Ying said all four par fives are reachable in two. “The greens here have gentle contours and whoever putts well will be in contention. “I think 10-under or better will be the winning score,” he added. The Harrier Cup is the 7th leg of the Toyota Tour which is organised by the Professional Golf Malaysia and delivered by MST Golf.
Royal Pahang boasts two signature par threes. The 11th tee box which was completed just in time for the Harrier Cup is right next to the beach and the tee shot has to carry part of the South China Sea that juts inland. The 5th green has now got water all around it and players will hit their shots from the new teebox complex labelled as the biggest in the country.
Aside from Ying and Ruhanraj, other players who could make an impression this week are Ben Leong, Daeng Rahman, Zia Izzuddeen, Syahiran Syakir, Kemarol Baharin, Kenneth De SIlva and Lim Leun Kwang.
Michelle, who coaches in Kuala Lumpur, made her mark when she won the Shanghai and Taiwan Opens in 2015 and 2016 respectively. The highlight of her career so far was qualifying for the Rio de Janeiro Olympics in 2016.
Michelle’s main rivals in the Ladies Championship will be in-form Geraldine Wong and Zulaikah Nasser who two weeks ago won the Toyota Tour Qualifying School at Kota Seriemas GCC.
Meanwhile, a whopping 67 children attended the Toyota Tour Junior Clinic which took place at Royal Pahang yesterday. With kids coming from as far as Bentong, Pekan and Kemaman in Terengganu, Royal Pahang had a carnival atmosphere as Ying, Ruhanraj, Azmeer Merican and Zulaikah guided them on chipping, putting and hitting balls at the range.
All the kids, whose ages ranged from 6 to 16, received exclusive Toyota Tour caps and were treated to refreshments at the end of the session. In response to the excellent turnout, Royal Pahang has extended a special rate to the children to join the club’s Junior Membership programme.
