Malaysia to create history

14/09/2002

MALAYSIA'S men's team have set themselves a stiff target of making the
top-10 in the Eisenhower Trophy of the World Amatuer Golf Team
Championships which will be played at the Saujana Golf and Country Club on
Oct 24-27.
But president of the Malaysian Golf Association (MGA) Thomas Lee was
more realistic when he said that it would be an achievement if the
Malaysians make the top-20 in the Eisenhower Trophy.
"Malaysia have never made the top-20 in the Eisenhower but they do have
home turf advantage and crowd support to boost them. So I feel that they
might achieve their best result at the Saujana Golf and Country Club, but
it would be difficult to break into the top-10 bracket," said Lee.
In the Eisenhower, Malaysia will be represented by Shaaban Hussin, S.
Sivachandran, Lim Eng Seng and Sahal Saedin.
In the Espirito Santo, the women's championship at the same course on
Oct 16-19, Malaysia will be represented by Nining Harris, Valerie Tan,
Datin Rahman Arshad and Nur Sayyeda Said.
The coach for both the men and women, Harris Zainal Abidin, is
optimistic about the men because Shaaban and his team-mates have been
showing great form recently.
"Shaaban has been finishing in the top-two bracket in a string of
tournaments while Lim and Sivachandran have been playing below par," said
Harris.
"The only problem is consistancy because the Malaysian men tend to play
well one day and then blow up in the next. We still have time to arrest
the situation and have been training at the Saujana Course since May.
"But now that the course has been closed until championship day, we are
training at the Sungai Long Golf and Country Club and also at the Seri
Malaysia Golf Club," said Harris.
Since the beginning of the month, the team has been training everyday,
with the emphasis on strategy and working on individual game plans.
"The players also undergo mental and fitness training at the Bukit Jalil
Sports Centre. We are now working on improving their scoring ability as
our target is to better the best Eisenhower outing in Santiago, Chile in
1998 where the men finished 23. Our target is to be among the top-10,"
said Harris.
Even before tee-off one record has been broken and another is expected
to fall sooon.
"Forty countries have registered for the Espirito Santo Trophy and this
has broken the previous record of 39. For the Eisenhower, we have equalled
the record of 59 countries but this is expected to be surpassed in the
next few days," said Lee.
Ricky Barnes, Hunter Mahan and DJ Trahan have been picked to represent
the United States in the Eisenhower, and they will start as favourites.
Trahan was named the 2002 NCAA Player of The Year after winning the Jack
Nicklaus Award and the Ben Hogan Award, while Barnes, 21, is the 2002 US
Amateur champion, having recently won the title at Oakland Hills Country
Club with a 2-and-1 victory over Mahan.
Barnes qualified for the US Open twice, including the 2002 championship
at Bethpage State Park (Black Course).
Mahan, 20, was the 1999 US Junior Amateur champion and runner-up to
Barnes at the 2002 US Amateur. He was the 1999 Player of The Year.
The United States have won the men's World Amateur Team Championship a
record 11 times and are the defending champions. They won the 2000 event
at Sporting Club Berlin in Bad Saarow, Germany.
The title is determined over four days of strokeplay. A country may
field a team of two or three players. In each round, the total of the two
lowest scores by players from each team constitutes the team score for the
round. The four-day total is the team's score for the championship.
The Espirito Santo Trophy has been played every two years since 1964.
France won the 2000 championship in Bad Saarow, Germany. The US last won
the Espirito Santo Trophy in 1998 - their record 13th title since 1966.
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