OneAsia Tour Q-School fails to attract local golfers

PETALING JAYA: OneAsia has been dealt a major blow in its bid to revive its struggling golf circuit this year.

The OneAsia Tour Qualifying School (Q-School), which got under way at the Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Golf Club in Shah Alam on Tuesday, has been hit by a poor turnout.

Only 16 golfers took part – a far cry from their rival Asian Tour Q-School in January that attracted the participation of more than 500 golfers.

And despite being hosted in Malaysia, no locals were interested in bidding for the OneAsia Tour playing privileges.

Inaugurated in 2009 as a joint venture with the PGA Tour of Australasia, the China Golf Association, the Korean Golf Association and the Korean PGA, the OneAsia Tour once boasted 10 tournaments in a season that included the prestigious national Opens of China, South Korea and Australia.

But their fortunes dwindled over the last three years and they staged only three events last year.

The Tour has yet to confirm events for this year although its newly restructured management team – led by chief executive officer Kuma Krishna Muthuraja – promised that “there will be more tournaments to come in the second half of 2018”.

Sukree Othman, an eight-time PGM Tour winner, said he saw no reason to sign up.

“None of us (the local pros) are interested,” said Sukree.

“Why do we bother to sign up for a circuit that could not even produce a tournament calendar?

“It’s good the Q-School is being hosted here because the Malaysian pros can save a lot of money. I would probably give it a try if it was a few years ago.”

The Tour has secured sponsorship of US$250 (RM1,000) per player that go towards their entry fees. Instead of paying US$1,500 (RM6,000), the players only pay US$1,250 (RM5,000).

Another local professional Khor Kheng Hwai echoed Sukree’s sentiment.

“I don’t think it’s worth it,” said Kheng Hwai, who played once in the Australian Open.

“They are no longer appealing after having lost the official World Golf Ranking status. There will be no world ranking points offered in any of their future tournaments.”