The Els Desaru Coast once again played host to the Tourism Johor Golf Tournament for the Tunku Panglima Johor Challenge Trophy on November 27. A total of 166 golfers took part in the fourth edition of the tournament, organised by the Johor Golf Tourism Association (JGTA) and supported by Tourism Johor and Tourism Malaysia.
The tournament succeeded in raising RM1,121,500 to benefit the Tunku Laksamana Johor Cancer Foundation from partnership contributions, sponsorships in cash as well as from sales generated through an auction of items. Among the cash donors were Qul Holdings with RM100,000; Tenaga Nasional with RM20,000; and GTMed with RM5,001.
The mock cheque for RM1,121,500 was presented by JGTA President Col. Mohd Jamal Salleh to His Highness Tunku Abu Bakar Alhaj ibni Sultan Ibrahim, Tunku Putera Johor on behalf of Tunku Laksamana Johor Cancer Foundation.
His Majesty Sultan Ibrahim ibni Almarhum Sultan Iskandar graced the royal luncheon and prize presentation that was attended by about 220 participants, partners, sponsors and dignitaries. The dignitaries who attended included The Honourable YAB Dato’ Hj Hasni Mohammad, Chief Minister of Johor, YB Dato’ Hj Azmi Rohani, Johor State Secretary, YB Dato’ Onn Hafiz Ghazi, Chairman of the Johor State Tourism, Youth and Sports Committee, and YB Datuk Seri Dr. Santhara Kumar Ramanaidu, Deputy Minister of Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture.
Arrival of His Majesty Sultan Ibrahim ibni Almarhum Sultan Iskandar
The Tourism Johor Golf Tournament for the Tunku Panglima Johor Challenge Trophy has now become one of the most coveted golf events in the country with growing participation each year. This year the tournament had to be held at The Els Club Desaru Coast’s two highly-rated golf courses, the Ocean Course and the Valley Course, due to the overwhelming participation. 58 participants with low handicaps teed-off at the Valley Course in the Championship Category whilst another 108 participants with higher handicaps teed-off at the Ocean Course in the Open Category at 8.30 am on a shotgun start. Once again His Highness Tunku Putera Johor graced the tournament by playing at the Ocean Course.
“There are no words to describe how deeply blessed we feel to be given this privilege to host the fourth edition of this tournament at an exquisite golf course and setting a new record with an unprecedented number of 166 participants coming from many parts of the country, particularly Johor, including international golfers from the UK, Belgium, Japan, Korea and Indonesia,” said Col. Mohd Jamal.
“JGTA humbly expresses our sincere gratitude to have the gracious presence of His Majesty Sultan Ibrahim ibni Almarhum Sultan Iskandar at the Royal Luncheon and Prize Presentation. JGTA is also blessed to have the continued strong support from our Royal Patron Tunku Panglima Johor, His Highness Tunku Abdul Rahman ibni Sultan Ibrahim in organising this tournament. Once again, we are also blessed to have the gracious participation from His Highness Tunku Putera Johor in the tournament.”
166 participants enjoyed a great day of golf
The participants were rewarded with noteworthy goodies including a tournament t-shirt and tournament golf balls, as well as goodies sponsored by Desaru Coast, Adventure Waterpark Desaru Coast, GTMed, Mediven, Tourism Johor and Tourism Malaysia. Aside from eight attractive hole-in-one prizes, there were also novelty competitions on both courses sponsored by MST Golf.
The eight hole-in-one prizes were sponsored by Mutiara Motorsports, Lexus Johor, Toyota Plentong and Toyota Iskandar Puteri – one Lexus UX200 Luxury (Valley Course) and one Toyota Hilux 2.4V (Ocean Course); Weststar – one Maxus T60 (Valley Course) and one Maxus G10 (Ocean Course); Anantara Desaru Coast Resort & Villas at Ocean Course – hotel stay (Valley Course); One&Only Desaru Coast – hotel stay (Ocean Course); and The Els Club Desaru Coast – one-year club memberships (Ocean and Valley).
To add to the excitement, there were also an “On-the-Green” Challenge at Hole 2 of the Lakes Ocean Course and Hole 17 of the Valley Course. The prizes were sponsored by 360 Hospitality (Trinidad Group of Companies) in the form of accommodation vouchers at Ramada Suites KLCC, Trinidad Suites Puteri Harbour, Shahzan Hotel Kuantan and Ramada by Wyndham Langkawi Marina. More than 40 participants won these exciting prizes, while there were also lots of lucky draw prizes during the Royal luncheon.
The overall gross champion from the Championship Category at Valley Course, Mohd Nasharuddin Mat Nasir, walked away with the exquisite Tunku Panglima Johor Challenge Trophy.
Tournament Winners:
Gross – Championship Category at Valley Course:
Champion: Mohd Nasharuddin Mat Nasir
1st Runner-Up: Nazrin Kassim
2nd Runner-Up: Edzat Edzmir Bahari
Nett (System 36 Stroke Play) – Championship Category at Valley Course:
Champion: Raja Mohd Hafiz Raja Daud
1st Runner-Up: Perumal Naidu Muthoo
2nd Runner-Up: Mohd Eddy Ismail
Gross – Open Category at Ocean Course:
Champion: Saiful Supar
1st Runner-Up: Mohd Anizam Jamian
2nd Runner-Up: Mohd Fauzi Mesran
Nett (System 36 Stroke Play) – Open Category at Ocean Course:
Champion: Mohd Johari Tarmidi
1st Runner-Up: Datuk Arsad Salam
2nd Runner-Up: Mohd Faadzli Mohd Najib
Novelty Contests:
Open category at Ocean Course:
Nearest to the Pin at Hole 6 Lakes: Chong Honn Ming
Nearest to the Pin at Hole 3 Coast: Bapak Ari Wardhana
Nearest to the Line at Hole 5 Lakes: Simon Goh
Nearest to the Line at Hole 7 Coast: YM Tunku Muinuddin Putra
Championship category at Valley Course:
Nearest to the Pin at Hole 2: Ahmad Johanif Mohd Ali
Nearest to the Pin at Hole 17: Raja Ahmad Terjudin Raja Anua
Nearest to the Line at Hole 5: M.J. Logaa S.
Nearest to the Line at Hole 18: David Pubalan
The tournament was supported by Tourism Johor, Tourism Malaysia and JGTA’s principal partners, Qul Holdings and Tenaga Nasional Berhad. Other partners included The Els Club Desaru Coast, Weststar, Mutiara Motorsports, Lexus Johor, Toyota Plentong, Toyota Iskandar Puteri, Anantara Desaru Coast Resort & Villas, One&Only Desaru Coast, 360 Hospitality, Desaru Coast, MST Golf, GTMed, Mediven, Watatime, Hard Rock Hotel Desaru Coast, The Westin Desaru Coast Resort, Firefly, Pristine Works, 100 Plus, and Ombak.
