Golf Asia - February 2018

GOLF ASIA 45

Yap springs surprise amongst an elite field

12th Faldo Series

Malaysia Championship

B

enjamin Yap Jian Xian surprised

himself by upstaging a strong field

to post the most notable victory

of his fledgling career in the Faldo Series

Malaysia Championship. One shot off

the pace in equal second place after two

rounds in the 13th leg of the 2017-18 Faldo

Series Asia season, Yap held his nerve on a

tense final day over the Allamanda Course

at the Palm Resort Golf & Country Club in

the southernmost Malaysian State of Johor.

Thanks to a closing one-over-par 73,

the Malaysian four-handicapper who

studies at the Tanglin Trust School in

neighbouring Singapore, topped the

standings in both the Boys’ Under-16

category and overall. With a 54-hole

aggregate of three-over 219, Yap ended

five strokes clear of Umar Khushairi

Mohamad Kamal, who had the

consolation of taking top spot in the Boys’

Under-21 segment.

As such, he will join Yap and girls’ age

group winners Qistina Balqis Azhar and

Liyana Durisic as Malaysia’s representatives

in the 12th Faldo Series Asia Grand Final, to

be hosted by Sir Nick Faldo at Laguna Loˇng

Cô in Danang, Central Vietnam, in March,

2018. “I’m excited to win this championship
      and even more surprised to have topped
      a really strong, elite field,” said 16-year-
      old Yap, who is coached by Skye Neal at
      Sentosa Golf Club’s academy.
      Full of confidence in the wake of her
      triumph in the Albatross International
      Junior Championship in Delhi, Durisic
      showed commendable calm to recover
      from a triple-bogey eight at the third hole by

coming back in two-under 34 to clinch the

Girls’ Under-16 title. In the elder category

for girls, Azhar outlasted Nurdiyana Aqilah

Khalim and could even afford the luxury of

a double-bogey at the 18th.

The 2017-18 Faldo Series Asia season

is supported by The R&A and endorsed

by the Asian Tour and the Asia Pacific Golf

Confederation. The International Junior

Golf Academy is a partner of the Faldo

Series. Recognised as the only global

amateur series for boys and girls, the Faldo

Series was established in 1996, expanding

to Asia in 2006. Today, 40 Faldo Series

tournaments take place in 30-plus countries

worldwide, touching more than 7,000

golfers each year. Past champions include

Tseng Ya-ni and Rory McIlroy, both multiple

Major winners.

Age group

winners at the

2017 Faldo

Series Malaysia

Championship

(from left to

right) Benjamin

Yap, Umar

Khushairi

Mohamad

Kamal, Qistina

Balqis Azhar

and Liyana

Durisic.