Australia’s men’s and women’s team celebrate their triumphs.
Continuing a golden run of form, Hiroko Oga created a notable slice of golfing history by becoming the first winner of the Asia-Pacific Golf Confederation (APGC) Senior Women’s Amateur Championship.
The ever-smiling 52-year-old emerged triumphant after an engrossing three-day duel with Sue Wooster, who finished second individually but led Australia to victory in the women’s team event, ably supported by Nadene Gole and Jacqueline Morgan.
Australia’s men’s team also proved too strong for their rivals at Kota Permai Golf & Country Club with the quartet of Greg Rhodes, Ken Brewer, Ian Frost and Mark Allen sweeping to a seven-stroke victory from Korea with Hong Kong pipping Singapore to third place.
For good measure, 63-year-old Rhodes claimed the men’s individual title, a rock-solid closing one-over-par 73 giving him a winning 54-hole aggregate of 224 – three strokes ahead of runner-up Jimmy Aw, who was also runner-up in last week’s Singapore Open Senior Championship.
“It’s been a fabulous week. I’ll remember the course, the hospitality and the good people we were able to meet and play with,” said Rhodes, who represented his country the last time the APGC championship was staged in 2019 at Sungai Long Golf & Country Club, also in the Malaysian capital.
For Oga, it was her first visit to Malaysia. “I’ve loved it here,” said the number one ranked senior female in Japan, who won the Japan Women’s Mid-Amateur Championship in the last week of October. She followed that up by capturing the Japan Women’s Senior Championship last week.
“Thank you to the APGC for introducing a Seniors Championship for women. Thanks also to the Malaysian Golf Association (MGA) for making the championship such a success,” added Oga.
Taimur Hassan Amin, Chairman of the APGC, said, “Congratulations to Hiroko and Greg. They are worthy champions who played throughout with smiles on their faces.
“We’re especially pleased to have launched our Senior Women’s Championship and look forward to seeing it growing and becoming an annual highlight on our calendar.
“The camaraderie among the players was exceptional this week and the support from the MGA and Kota Permai was outstanding.”
One shot off the pace in third place overnight, Rhodes was a model of consistency on another hot and humid day at Kota Permai.
While his rivals were faltering, Rhodes stood firm reeling off eight pars and a solitary bogey in an outward 37 to move two shots clear at the top of the leaderboard.
A second dropped shot at 13 was followed by a stunning birdie at 15. On arguably the most difficult hole on the course, Rhodes struck a pinpoint six-iron and holed the putt from 10 feet.
The Coomealla Golf Club member, a two-time Australian Senior Amateur champion, set the seal on his success with a brilliant up-and-down from a greenside bunker at the short 17th, holing a slippery 18-footer. It was his second important par save of the day having snared a 25-footer at the ninth after pulling a seven-iron approach into a gulley left of the green.
“It’s always an honour to represent your country and always good to win a team event,” said Rhodes, who praised the Kota Permai course and his local caddie.
“It’s a magnificent course – although the greens are difficult to understand,” added Rhodes, who said his caddie was instrumental in helping him read the putting surfaces, notably with his clutch putt on 17.
Like Rhodes, Oga, began the final day one shot off the pace, behind Wooster, runner-up in the US Senior Women’s Amateur Championship in three of the past four years,
Out in 39 to Wooster’s 40, Oga pulled clear with an even-par back nine of 36, highlighted by a four-foot birdie putt at the short 14th. The hopes of three-time reigning Australian Senior Amateur winner Wooster were finally sunk on 18 when an uncharacteristically wayward drive found water and she signed for an 81.
However, with team-mate Gole carding a second successive 75, the Australians staved off the challenge of the Japanese for whom Tomoko Suzuki and Mayumi Tanaka were unable to break 80.
Following a gruelling week at Kota Permai, Oga is now looking forward to a morning lie-in. “I’m feeling very tired. We’ve had 4.30 am early morning calls all week. Now I can’t wait to sleep in,” she said.
Leading Men’s Individual Scores
224 – Greg Rhodes (Australia) 76-75-73
227 – Jimmy Aw (Singapore) 75-77-75
230 – Ken Brewer (Australia) 75-75-80
231 – Kim Yang-kwon (Korea) 74-84-73; Malcolm Gullery (New Zealand) 79-75-77
233 – Doug Williams (Hong Kong) 78-80-75; Michael Barltrop (New Zealand) 74-76-83
234 – Ajai Singh Sirohi (India) 78-75-81
235 – John Ball (Hong Kong) 83-76-76; Ian Frost (Australia) 75-78-82
Men’s Team Scores
688 – Australia 226-228-234 (Greg Rhodes 76-75-73; Ken Brewer 75-75-80; Ian Frost 75-78-82; Mark Allen 79-83-81)
695 – Korea 236-232-227 (Kim Yang-kwon 74-84-73; Jang Heong-seo 78-78-80, Lim Nae-rack 84-76-78; Hwan Chung 85-78-76)
708 – Hong Kong 235-238-235 (Syren Johnstone 76-92-85; Doug Williams 81-80-75; John Ball 83-76-76; Tony Taylor 81-82-84)
711 – Singapore 234-234-241 (Jimmy Aw 75-77-75; Tim Pinnegar 78-83-83; Lai Chee Weng 81-76-85; Andrew Ng 82-90-83)
717 – New Zealand 239-237-241 (Michael Barltrop 74-76-83; Malcolm Gullery 79-75-77, William Houng-Lee 86-86-81)
725 – India 236-235-254 (Ajai Singh Sirohi 78-75-81, David D’Souza 78-81-85, Dilip Sharma 80-86-88; Lokendra Malik 83-81-90)
Leading Women’s Individual Scores
227 – Hiroko Oga (Japan) 78-74-75
232 – Sue Wooster (Australia) 75-76-81
234 – Nadene Gole (Australia) 84-75-75
235 – Tomoko Suzuki (Japan) 70-83-82
241 – Jacqueline Morgan (Australia) 76-81-84; Lam Kui Moi (Malaysia) 78-80-83
248 – Mayumi Tanaka (Japan) 80-86-82
250 – Felicia Louey (Hong Kong) 84-81-85
256 – Ireen Teng (Malaysia) 86-92-78
Women’s Team Scores
458 – Australia 151-151-156 (Sue Wooster 75-76-81; Nadene Gole 84-75-75; Jacqueline Morgan 76-81-84)
462 – Japan 148-157-157 (Hiroko Oga 78-74-75; Tomoko Suzuki 70-83-82; Mayumi Tanaka 80-86-82)
496 – Malaysia 164-171-161 (Lam Kui Moi 78-80-83, Ireen Teng 86-92-78; Doris Yee 88-91-88)
511 – Hong Kong 174-168-169 (Felicia Louey 84-81-82, Yvonne Wong 90-90-93; Cathy Chung 96-87-87)
