25 NOVEMBER 2017 | THE NEW PAPER

LagunaOFFERING A TERM

MEMBERSHIP LIKE NO OTHER

GODFREY ROBERTGOOD YEAR FOR S’PORE GOLF,

NOW LET’S MAKE IT BETTER

READY FOR ANOTHER SHOT AT SMBC SIMGAPORE OPEN

SERGIO GARCIA

BINTAN

SWINGTEAM

EDITOR-IN-CHIEFPatrick Daniel

EDITORS. Muralimuralis@sph.com.sg

CREATIVE EDITORJacqueline Wuwuyej@sph.com.sg

SUB-EDITORIda Karsia

CONTRIBUTING EDITORSGodfrey RobertSpencer RobinsonVen SreenivasanRohit BrijnathRahul PathakBenny Teo

I still remember the first seri-ous golf trip I went on.

The golf nuts among you will probably salivate on hearing this and I do apologise for that.

That golf trip/assignment 20 years ago was to go to Scot-land to cover the Alfred Dun-hill Cup.

And yes, I got the chance to play on the Old Course at St Andrews.

This amazing trip came courtesy of Alfred Dunhill, who offered it to my boss at The Straits Times, Godfrey Robert, who then offered it to lucky young me.

So I was whisked off to Scot-land, business class, limou-sines etc, and after the tour-nament proper was over on Sunday, we got to play the world’s most famous course on Monday.

The images of that journey are still seared in my mind, and maybe that was the trip that got me well and truly hooked on the wondrous game of golf.

It literally opened a new world for me and a chance to travel, play a sport and make new friends around the globe.

From Scotland to Hawaii to Tasmania to California, I have since hit balls into the gorse, sand and sea wherever I have travelled.

And many of these trips have shown me parts of the world I may have never seen otherwise.

This is why when we at SPH Golf started to set up a new club for golfers in Singapore, providing a way to travel and play golf was always on our plans.

And now, as we head into our second year of operations (we launched the card last De-cember), we are happy to part-ner UOB Travel to open up a buffet of opportunities for our golf card members and their friends.

With my good friend Steven Ler of UOB, who also heads Na-tas in Singapore, we mapped out all our favourite places to play golf around the globe, in-cluding Australia, Japan and

Scotland plus the closer favou-rites like Thailand, Vietnam and China.

So there will be a year of golf travel to look ahead to, and you can cherry pick your pre-ferred options and plan your leave schedules accordingly.

I’m sure that even the sea-soned travellers among you

might not yet have sampled golf in Fiji and also the world-class courses in Tasmania.

First up is a short hop over to Bangkok and Hua Hin to play the famed Black Mountain and Alpine golf courses.

It isn’t the Old Course yet, but you won’t be disappointed by any means. Trust me.

BY S. MURALI

2 | SWING BY SPHGOLF | SATURDAY 25 NOVEMBER 2017 | THE NEW PAPER

The ardent golfer would play Mount Everest if somebody put a flagstick on top.

— FAMOUS GOLF

DESIGNER PETE DYE

MARKETING AND PARTNERSHIP ENQUIRIESVivien Cham Deputy Business Director 9746 0379, champs@sph.com.sgDaphne Tay Deputy Business Director 9620 1418, taykhd@sph.com.sgTan Ann Nee Acct Manager 9455 7786, antan@sph.com.sg

PACK THOSE CLUBS AND HEAD INTO A WHOLE NEW WORLD

The St Andrews Old Course is every golfer’s dream destination.

THE NEW PAPER | SATURDAY 25 NOVEMBER 2017 | SWING BY SPHGOLF | 3

Golfing enthusiasts in Singapore will get a big treat. The first SPH Golf Travel

Fair will open its doors at Marina Square Shopping Mall next April 6-8, to a public eager to find out about the latest deals in golf travel. A total of three Country Pavilions that showcases the attractions of each participating destination, and 12 pods belonging to golf-affiliated hotels, golf courses, resorts and country clubs, will be at hand to exhibit their beautiful properties, inviting all who come to the SPH Golf Travel Fair to visit and plan a trip with them.

Organised by SPH Pacom Pte Ltd, a susidiary of Singapore Press Hold-ings Ltd, and supported by UOB Travel Planners Pte Ltd as official travel partner, they are set to pro-vide golf and travel packages that optimizes the diverse range of ex-hibitors across the region and mar-ket this fair to the golfers here.

“This is the first time a fair of such scale has been put togeth-er here in Singapore,” said Karen Chan, managing director of SPH Pa-com Pte Ltd, whose print periodi-cal, “Golf Vacations”, is Asia’s old-est golf title and is also celebrating its 30th continuous year in publish-ing.

Singapore has a golfing popu-lation of approximately 36,000 members, according to statistics from the Singapore Golf Associa-tion (SGA) and is one of the most sought after group of travellers in this space.

In reality, there are many more golfers who are not registered with the association who have been avid travellers and also looking for new

places to tee up and play. “The exhibitors we are looking

for must put a premium to quali-ty, experience and value. Through our years of publishing Golf Vaca-tions, we have seen countless golf courses, resorts and hotels, spas and destinations across the region and around the world. We are cer-tain that we are able to curate the best of them for the benefit of all who visit the SPH Golf Travel Fair,” said Chan.

With the strength of its media outreach, consisting of daily and tabloid newspapers, The Straits Times, Business Times, The New Paper, and coupled with periodi-cals Golf Vacations and Golf/Wom-en as well as online assets such as SPHGolf.com and the comprehen-sive golf privileges SPH Golf Card programme, they are able to reach over 3.3 million potential consum-ers throughout the marketing peri-od of the fair until its occurrence.

The SPH Golf Travel Fair 2018 is open to public and admission is free throughout all three days.

SPH GOLFTRAVEL FAIR

Alpine Golf Club (above), site of

the 2000 Johnnie Walker Classic will

be an exhibit at the travel fair.

(Left) The Els Club Desaru Coast Valley Course’s stunning 11th hole.

(Above) The Els Club Teluk Datai, Langkawi.

(Left) Hole 18 at Horizon Hills Golf Club.

HLimited edition Pro V1 and Pro V1x golf balls with Christmas icons. Available at all authorised Titleist outlets. #1GiftinGolf

Sporting an athletic look, this Tour-proven footwear possesses similar physical features as the D.N.A 2.0; both are comfortable and stable.

A new NitroThin outsole with a wider heel area and back spikes further apart, towards the rear promotes greater stability. The sole is then constructed with Translucent LP Plusar spikes accompanied by the TourLock fastening system.

Retailing at $330 (Laced) and $360 (BOA Closure System) in four colourways: White/Red/Blue, White/Black, White/Silver and Black at all authorised FJ outlets.

On Oct 14 and 15, 2017, the 113-year-old Keppel Club raised $1,037,996 at its annual Keppel Charity Golf event.

With about 270 golfers participating, the gala dinner was attended by Dr Lam Pin Min, Senior Minister of State, Ministry of Health and Ministry of Transport and Guest-of-Honour on the second evening.

There was also a performance by 14-year-old local classical singer, Lauren Yeo, whose rise to fame occurred at the tender age of 9 when she won the American Protégé Internationl Vocal competition and performed at Carnegie Hall. The teenager helped raise $10,000 during the gala event.

This is the fifth consecutive year that Keppel Club has successfully raised more than $1 million for charitable causes. An immediate donation of $93,888 was presented to 10 beneficiaries whose representatives were in attendance at the gala dinner on Sunday.

TITLEIST CHRISTMAS GOLF BALL PROMOTION

FJ D.N.A HELIX

KEPPEL CHARITY GOLF

MIZUNO MP-18 SERIES

TAYLORMADE P790 IRONS

A year on November 11 and 12, 2017, and Faldo was supposed to return to meet the SPH Golf Club members before a personal emergency held him back. However, there was still an element of stardust as the comely Indonesian celebrity chef Farah Quin joined in the game and walked off with

a “Best Dressed” prize and an honorary membership from the golf club.

“The course was in good condition, and while we are disappointed that Sir Nick was unable to attend, we had an enjoyable two days of golf and a fantastic gala dinner by the beach, which is something unique,” said

Kevin Tan, who had encouraged seven other friends to sign up for this event together with him.

The participants enjoyed two days of golf, including a clinic by the club’s Director of Golf Darren Robson, an overnight stay at the new Cassia Bintan, a welcome lunch and gala

dinner as well as prizes sponsored by Laguna Golf, SPH Golf, Big Fish Golf, Fenix Xcell and UnderTheSeaSG.com who gave out vouchers for fresh home delivery crabs.

Furthermore, SPH Golf Card members also had the opportunity to purchase an Annual Membership at Laguna Golf Bintan at a special rate of just $510 (originally $1,500).

Additionally, they will get priority invitation for a special event when Faldo is able to return, which is slated for the first quarter of 2018.

“I am certainly looking forward to coming back; the hospitality given to us at Laguna Golf Bintan was tremendous,” regaled Tan.

BY BENNY TEO

SPH Golf members (from above, left) Tan Wen-Li, Kevin Tan, Kelvin Soh and Derrick Sun enjoying their day out at Laguna Golf Bintan.

The new MP-18s now come in ‘MB’ (muscle back), ‘SC’ (split cavity), MMC (multi-material construction) and Fli-Hi versions that can be mixed and matched according to the individual’s profile preference, skill level or even simply aesthetics.

Utilising a new Grain-Flow forged HD process and Harmonic Impact Technology to dial in the acoustics for enhanced feedback, the MB and SC versions are built for advanced players.

Tungsten is placed in the toe of the MMC with an additional 8-gram titanium insert behind the clubface at the heel. This results in toe-biased weighting that promotes clubhead rotation and a draw shot shape.

The Fli-Hi version similarly utilises 20 grams of tungsten but, instead, is forged within the cavity near the toe and sits behind the face.

The Mizuno fitting team is at NSRCC Changi and the new 5,000 sq ft MST Superstore at Suntec City. It is retailing between $250 and $290 per piece, depending on shaft and club pairing.

The new P790 is the epitome of a modern forged iron that combines feel with distance and playability in a medium-compact head and reduced offset.

The two-piece iron features soft 8620 carbon steel and high-strength forged 4140 carbon steel WrapFace that wraps onto the sole and ends at a cut-through Speed Pocket that enhances flexibility for forgiveness and consistency more commonly found in distance clubs.

Also injected into the hollow cavity of the P790 is SpeedFoam;

a new proprietary construction that generates ball speed with damping properties for that ideal sound and feel.

Finally, the P790 irons feature strategically placed internal metal-injection-molded tungsten weighting for precise centre of gravity placement and higher moment of inertia.

Available at all authorised TaylorMade outlets in 4-PW in both graphite and steel shafts ranging from $1,591 to $1,699.

SPH GOLF NOVEMBER MEDAL & LAGUNA GOLF BINTAN INVITATIONAL

eading back to the place where it all began, the SPH Golf Club November Medal signifies a key moment a year ago when the non-estate golf privileges programme was launched with Laguna Golf Ambassador Sir Nick Faldo as

honorary member.

4 | SWING BY SPHGOLF | SATURDAY 25 NOVEMBER 2017 | THE NEW PAPER

MEDAL RESULTSMen’s Division A ● Wee Kwang Jin, 30 points

Men’s Division B ● Chee Wee Leong, 41 points

Men’s Division C ● Lee Hin Hooi, 40 points

Ladies’ Division C ● Dr. Currie Chiang, 30 points

THE NEW PAPER | SATURDAY 25 NOVEMBER 2017 | SWING BY SPHGOLF | 5

YOU BETTER WATCH OUT

BY KOVIT ANG

1. Right; ICE SIXTY NINE (LARGE)Simplicity and polished clean lines, so understated, now come with an array of striking bold colours. This solid red piece is sure to turn heads and elevate any day-to-day look.

2. Below left; BMW MOTORSPORT (STEEL) Heading out for evening events or simply wanting a more sophisticated look? This vivid fan of German cars, and a driver of one myself, totally love how this watch captures the good feel and embodied the DNA of the BMW — something that transcends automotive design into a cool time piece.

3. Far right; ICE SURF (EXTRA LARGE) A winter trip must have, this is the watch of choice. Winter wear tends to be bulky and heavy, at times it can look more clumsy than stylish. This orange piece serves as a statement piece, complementing a winter outfit to make sure I stay trendy while giving me the comfort to do any sports activities.

PhotographyKenneth Choo

LightingJimmy Pang

StylingKovit Ang

Hair & Make-UpBeno Lim using MAC

ModelJon Louis C. (NOW Models)

WardrobesH&M

A RANGE OF COOL WATCHES TO SUIT EVERY OCCASION

B BY GODFREY ROBERT

eating Malaysia 16-8 in the recent Singapore Golf Association-Malaysian Golf Association series at

Keppel Club can be viewed as the icing on the cake on a memorable year for golf in Singapore. But the SGA’s acting

general manager, Jerome Ng, is happy but not overly excited over the result, considering that there were areas where Singapore could have done better.

Take the recent junior event in Thailand where Singa-pore managed just a Team 2nd runners-up and Inez Ng finished 3rd runner-up from a team of 19 at the Singha World Junior Championships at Hua Hin.

Or the Nomura Cup in Kua-la Lumpur recently where Singapore finished 11th out of 24 countries, but were way below the champions Thai-land (40 shots behind) and with even Indonesia, among the South-east Asian nations, claiming a spot better than our boys.

No doubt, Singapore grabbed gold at the South-east Asian Games team event in Kuala Lumpur — a feat achieved after a long 28 years. But it is for that very

With Marc Ong and Joshua Shou turning professional after Janu-ary’s SMBC Singapore Open at Sentosa’s Serapong course and Joshua Ho leaving for a three-month study attachment to the United States the same month, the national amateur team will be in need of an injection of new play-ers.

Singapore’s No. 1 Gregory Foo will carry the flag again — at least for another year — but he will have to part with the three players (al-though Ho could return) for na-tional assignments in a calendar littered with major events.

For the new year, there are three main events, notably the Asian Games in Indonesia in Au-gust, the Eisenhower Trophy in Dublin in September and the Asian Amateur Championship at Sentosa Golf Club in October.

And having won this year’s South-east Asian (SEA) Games gold medal after a break of 28 years, expectations are reasona-bly high for the team, justifiably being the second-best nation after Thailand in the region.

But Foo, 24, who played key roles in this year’s SEA Games, Putra Cup and Nomura Cup, can-not carry the nation alone in team events where normally three of the four best scores count.

While it is a dilemma, Singa-pore Golf Association’s acting gen-eral manager Jerome Ng prefers to look at it from another angle: the need for promoting the reserves, namely promising golfers such as Abdul Hadi and Jesse Yap.

Ng said: “There needs to be pro-gression and continuity, and that can only come if we have move up some of our younger talent. And that talent can come only if you have well-constructed age-group and junior programmes.

“The SGA is aware of this, and is working hard in this area. Yes, results won’t come overnight, but with good programmes and cor-rect attitude of younger golfers we can and should be on the road for some positive change.”

reason that expectations for the Nomura Cup, coming two months later with the same quartet of Gregory Foo, Marc Ong, Joshua Shou and Josh-ua Ho, were higher than how Singapore eventually fin-ished.

For the Putra Cup too, Sin-gapore finished behind pace-setters Thailand again (by nine shots), underlining a status symbol exemplifying that our team were better than all South-east Asian na-tions sans Thailand.

In this respect, where Ng expected more was in our players contributing more and being a shade better in consistency, with only our No. 1 Foo standing out in the best of three scores to count in each of the four rounds.

While Ng was analysing the performances with a sharp mind, he was pleased to note that in the past year, the new SGA committee, head-ed by Ross Tan and propped up by Lyn Sen, is moving in the right direction with their plans and policies.

There is more than a modi-cum of “oomph” in the SGA’s approach to plans and events and the response from play-ers, both seniors and juniors, has been very right although sometimes, the results have not been satisfactory.

No doubt, the SGA’s em-phasis on juniors is the best move if golf is to receive bet-ter recognition from the sports powers in a climate where many sports are vying for the nod in competing in

bigger sports events, such as the Asian Games.

Currently one team is in Sarawak for a competi-tion, and from January on-wards the squad of 48 will be trimmed by about 40 per cent to enjoy focused train-ing under coaches on a reg-ular basis.

Some will also spend short stints in Australia, with for-mer national coach Andrew Welsford, where the SGA and the involved parents will share the expenses to ensure family ownership.

So teamwork and club co-operation (especially War-ren) have been the SGA’s em-phasis in its push for golf excellence through well-con-strued plans and selective competitions.

TEAMWORK THE KEY IN SGA’S PUSH FOR EXCELLENCE

A MEMORABLE YEAR FOR GOLF, BUT THINGS COULD HAVE BEEN BETTER

NATIONAL SQUAD IN NEED OF FRESH INFUSION

The winning men’s golf contingent with team manager Jerome Ng at the biennial South-east Asian Games in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

(Top) Abdul Hadi and (above) Jesse Yap.

6 | SWING BY SPHGOLF | SATURDAY 25 NOVEMBER 2017 | THE NEW PAPER

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GTHE NEW PAPER | SATURDAY 25 NOVEMBER 2017 | SWING BY SPHGOLF | 7

iven just between 2 and 4 per cent chance of winning the Race to Dubai crown, Sergio Garcia knew that it was going to be mammoth task at the Jumeirah Golf Estates course last week. And although at one point the Spanish sensation nearly pulled off the near-miracle by scorching the Earth course with eight birdies, he missed out on the honours.

CHILDISH THEN, BUT

GARCIA IS NOW A

MATURE GOLFER

‘EL NINO’ IS DETERMINED TO BE IN TOP FORM FOR SINGAPORE OPEN

At the last hole of the final stop of the European Tour last Sunday, he found the creek with his second shot and suffered a bogey for a seven-under 65 to tie for fourth, leaving Englishman Tommy Fleetwood to finish with the European crown ( Jon Rahm won the DP event).

Still it was an amazing year for Garcia, who shed his “Nearly Man” image with a scintillating win at the Masters in Augusta in April for his first Slam triumph.

That victory came after his wire-to-wire victory at the Dubai Desert Classic two months earlier, just weeks following his 11th placing at the SMBC Singapore Open at Sentosa’s Serapong course.

Looking back, “El Nino” said, at a teleconference from Dubai last week: “It has been a great year, especially now that I got the Major monkey off my back with the Augusta triumph.”

Four times runner-up at Majors previously, he added: “I have been playing well throughout the year, and am looking forward to the new season.”

The 37-year-old, who first played in

Singapore at the Tanah Merah Skins at the Garden course in 2002, has pledged to be back for the SMBC Singapore Open from Jan 18 to 21.

“I like Singapore, and love the Serapong layout, especially the greens which are relatively fast but true. Also, I like the Singapore food and the hospitality.”

In 2002, as a 22 year-old, Garcia showed schoolboyish traits in his demeanour.

Playing with Vijay Singh, Retief Goosen and Padraig Harrington, he once hit a three-wood second shot on a 480-metre par-five from near a row of trees, and full of anticipation, ran up a steep slope to check on his ball.

Three years earlier during a duel with Tiger Woods, late in the final round his ball was up against a tree trunk in the right rough with the green hidden from view.

He swung a low curving fade with his eyes shut and then sprinted madly towards the target and then scissor-kick-jumped to see the result on the green.

That was at the US PGA Championship at Medinah as a 19-year-

old rookie professional, where his child-like innocence thrilled and amused the audience.

Today, Sergio Garcia is a mature, much-admired professional who displayed his new-found maturity when he played at the SMBC Singapore Open at the Serapong course last January and at last week’s Dubai event.

The third Spaniard to win a Major after Seve Ballesteros and Jose Maria Olazabal, Garcia was predictable yet precise with his answers to all questions posed by the Singapore media.

Having duelled with Tiger Woods during the American former world No. 1’s prime so very often, I asked: “Do you think that Tiger would return to the game?”

He replied: “Obviously having Woods for golf is great, whoever doesn’t agree is not telling the truth. It’s going to be interesting to see. I think at the end of the day, anything that can help the game of golf is good for us and hopefully he can make it.”

And would his switch from equipment sponsor TaylorMade after 15 years to Callaway change his game and attitude? “No”, he replied, adding:

“Callaway has been around for a long time, and it is a good brand. I’ll be confident with its clubs and golf balls.”

The boy is now a man. And with his strong iron-game, the excitable young golfer has transformed into an accomplished player who continues to give the game added impetus and status with his charismatic personality.

BY GODFREY ROBERT

TICKET DETAILS FOR SINGAPORE OPEN Tickets can be purchased by visiting: www.smbcsingaporeopen.com.Purchase before Nov 30 and enjoy an ‘Early Bird’ 10% discount: Thursday $18, Friday $18, Saturday $27, Sunday $27 or a season pass for $54.

STANDARD (General course pass — Adult) ● Thurs: $5, Fri: $5, Sat: $10, Sun: $10● Season: $60(General course pass — Child)● Thurs: $5, Fri: $5, Sat: $10, Sun: $10.● Season: $15(VIP pass)● Thurs: $400, Fri: $400, Sat: $600, Sun: $600.● Season: $1800

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