THE Universiti Utara Malaysia International Secondary School Melaka (UUMISM)-Sportexcel Malaysian Junior Championship grand final staged at the Ayer Keroh Golf and Country Club in Melaka set a new record for the competition with 202 elite golfers participating.
The juniors competed in 10 categories, which were divided into various age groups, ranging from six to 18.
The annual tour, comprising seven legs, offers an opportunity for junior golfers to showcase their talent and earn golf scholarships at UUMISM in Ayer Keroh to pursue academic and golf excellence.
The tour, which features 12 to 14 competitions annually and is organised by Sportexcel, has without doubt raised the standard of junior golf in the country.
In addition, the top juniors from the tour are selected to participate in overseas competitions under the Hills Golf Academy on the Gold Coast, Australia, under the Asia-Pacific Junior Golf Series, a reciprocal programme.
“Our aim is to support junior golfers in the country to achieve academic excellence as well as become top-class golfers in the region and go on to excel in the global golf arena,” said UUMISM founder David Jerong.
“In short, UUMISM provides a platform for junior golfers to pursue excellence in both their studies and golf at one school.”
Jerong is a professional golfer from South Korea, who has made Malaysia his home. His primary goal is to groom juniors to compete with golfers from South Korea and the rest of the world.
“University Utara Malaysia International Secondary School should be praised for its support towards junior golf development in the country, and it is hoped more corporate companies can come forward to support junior sports development like this,” said Sportexcel executive director C. Sivanandan.
“On another note, and for the record, there are about 60 junior golfers pursuing their studies in the United States, through scholarships offered by colleges.
“Junior golf has a ready-made pathway to US colleges where one can know how far one can go to pursue golfing excellence,” he added.
“The men’s and women’s teams that excelled at this year’s South-East Asian Games in Vietnam, winning gold and silver medals, were groomed through the junior golf tour over the years,” said a proud Sivanandan.
“Notable names like Shalin Zulkifli, Datuk Nicol David, Ong Beng Hee, Gavin Green and Kelly Tan are products of the Sportexcel junior development programme.”
Aside from the primary sponsor, UUMISM, golf ball and equipment distributor Be Golf Pro Sdn Bhd chipped in as the official ball sponsor, providing Gutty golf balls as prizes in all the categories.
