It’s time to awaken men pros quiet golfing scene by ‘putting’ more money into it

MALAYSIA have plenty of good golf courses but sadly, when it comes to professional men competitions, the scenes are not thriving.

Now, why is that?

The Asian Tour have an open slot for takers to host tournaments from the April to May window but there is still no news as to whether we will host the prestigious Malaysian Open.

It does not appear to be so unless the organisers, Malaysian Golf Association, can get a big corporate sponsor to step in.

MGA thought it had hit the jackpot when IRS Prima signed up for a three-year deal with the national body to host the Malaysian Open last year but the tournament had hit a snag.

The funds did not come in and the Asian Tour had to help bail out the organisers since it was the co-sanction party.

A year has passed and MGA are still awaiting payment as promised.

It is certainly a sad reflection of the tournament, which was one of the oldest Opens in Asia, but its prestige has plummeted since the mid-2000s, and it failed to attract sponsors between 2016 and 2019.

It returned in 2020 as the Bandar Malaysian Open at the Kota Permai Golf & Country Club from March 5-7. There were no tournaments from 2021-2023 due to Covid-19 and difficulties in finding a sponsor.

The Malaysian Open aside, even the domestic professional golf Tour also suffered a setback when Toyota pulled out this year.

Toyota had been the title sponsor for the last two years, rebranding the event as Toyota Tour, giving a platform for the local pros to strut their stuff.

But the livelihood of the local pros took a beating with the recent scrapping. Unless the Professional Golf Malaysia (PGM) can find a replacement, the golfing scenes for men golfers here could well be buried in the bunkers.

It looks like PGM may have to run their own but they may reduce the number of stops on the calendar depending on the money in their coffers.

They should make an announcement before end of this month and that at least will give the local pros something to look forward to.

As it stands, Vietnam SEA Games gold medallist Ervin Chang is the only Malaysian golfer who managed to earn a full season playing card on the Asian Tour this year.

The other Malaysian pros will either have to wait for vacant exemption spots on the Asian Tour or Asian Development Tour.

The nation’s No. 1 golfer Gavin Kyle Green at least retained his European Tour playing rights but he is still seeking to end his title drought.

It is a more healthy scene for the women as the Maybank Championship will remain as the nation’s biggest golf championship.

And not only that, it offers slots for Malaysians and also Asean golfers - pros or amateurs - to play in the big stage.

The experience gained from playing a tournament alongside the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) stars is certainly invaluable.

Mirabel Ting is a case in point. The Sarawak-born teenager made the nation proud when she finished tied for 12th in her first LPGA-sanctioned tournament here in Kuala Lumpur last year.

Mirabel is part of the new batch of Malaysian women golfers who is showing great promise of blazing the greens.

She is only 19 but has already made a big impact on the US women’s collegiate golf scene having won five individual titles so far.

Mirabel, who bagged her fifth title at the Collegiate Invitational at Guadalajara Country Club earlier this month, is currently ranked third in the world - the highest ranking by a Malaysian golfer in either pro or amateur ranks. There is also Ashley Lau, Ng Jing Xuen and Liyana Durisic looking to uplift the nation’s reputation on the international stage.

The one thing they certainly welcome more than anything is sponsorship to take care of their travelling and competition needs.

To awaken the dead golfing scene for the men, we need more sponsors to step in.

Are you game for it Malaysian companies?

Let’s bring life and create a buzz at the golf courses. That will surely motivate more local golfers to shine.