Saujana GC gets top marks

21/03/2002

THE World Amateur Golf Council (WAGC) inspected the Saujana Golf and
Country Club for a third time yesterday and they ran out of superlatives
describing the preparations to date.
The joint deputy secretaries of WAGC Stephanie Parel and Grant Moir and
the Rules Secretary of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews David
Rickman, all agreed that Saujana's Cobra and Crocodile courses will
provide the ideal stage for the world's biggest amatuer golf events - the
Espirito Santo Trophy on Oct 16-19 and the Eisenhower Trophy on Oct 24-27.
"I am very impressed with the preliminary work that has been done here.
All logistical preparations seem to be very thorough and that is very
encouraging," said Stephanie.
Rickman, who will be the Chief Referee for the event, said that the two
courses are in excellent condition.
"They (the courses) will provide a good test for the better players and,
at the same time, be fair and playable to the lesser golfing nations."
To date the organisers have received an overwhelming number of entries
for both the events and expect more to roll in soon.
"The WAGIC is the most important and biggest event for amatuer golfers
and to date 52 countries are confirmed for the Eisenhower Trophy,
including champions the United States, and 41 countries for the Espirito
Santo Trophy, including champions France," said Thomas Lee, president of
the Malaysian Golf Association.
Nine countries have already been to Malaysia in the past three months to
get a feel of the Saujana course and more are expected to do so over the
next few months.
"Wales, England and Scotland, who will no longer compete under one
entity as Great Britain, played the Saujana course recently and left very
impressed. Next week New Zealand will be arriving to get used to the
Saujana greens," said Lee.
Since been given the honour to host both events, Saujana has been
undergoing a multi-million ringgit facelift. Both courses are being
upgraded.
"The addition of tee boxes at certain holes, and most significantly, the
reconstruction of five greens on the Cobra and one at the Crocodile course
is going smoothly and will be ready by the end of April," said Saujana
Resort general manager John Eu.
The club house is also undergoing a major facelift and will be equipped
with an open air viewing deck at the Golfers Terrace which will afford a
commanding view of the Cobra 18th green.
The biennial World Amateur Golf Team Championship features two separate
tournaments running consecutively - the women's Espirito Santo Trophy
followed by the men's Eisenhower Trophy and each will be played over four
days of gross strokeplay.
Some of the biggest names in professional golf were part of the amateur
championship before making they mark on the international stage and they
include Jack Nicklaus, Ben Crenshaw, Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Justin
Leonard, David Duval, Nancy Lopez, Juli Inkster and Pak Se-ri.
The WAGC was founded in 1958, and Malaysia will be the seventh Asia-
Pacific Zone nation to host the biennial championships.
In 2000, The United States of America weathered a raw and rainy final
round at the Sporting Club Berlin to secure the Eisenhower Trophy for a
record 11th time when they won by 16 strokes over then defending champions
Great Britain and Ireland.
France produced a seven-stroke victory over 1996 winners Korea for the
Espirito Santo Trophy.
For the record, at the last WAGTC held in Berlin, Malaysia finished 33rd
in the Eisenhower Trophy and 29th in the Espirito Santo Trophy.
jugjet@nstp.com.my
(END)