Indonesia Open golf tourney in Jagorawi
Indonesia Open golf tourney in Jagorawi
JAKARTA (JP): The Indonesia Open, the country's oldest men's professional golf championship, will be staged for the 21st time from March 13 to March 17 at the Jagorawi GC, Cibinong, West Java.
Stephen Leaney of Australia, last year's Victorian Open champion, Gary Webb, winner of the 1993 Indonesia Open held in Bali and the 1995 Hong Kong Open, and Gary Nickalus, son of golf legend Jack Nickalus, are among the foreign golfers who have confirmed their participations in the tournament.
Some 156 golfers from the Asian Tour and Indonesia are expected to compete on the par 72, 6,275-meter course at the Jagorawi Golf and Country Club (JGCC), designed by Peter Thomson and Michael Wolveridge.
The tournament offers US$250,000 in prize money including $41,000 for the winner. It is the ninth leg of the Asian Tour. The Tour's 10th leg will be the Rolex Masters 1996, to be held at Singapore Island Golf and Country Club from March 21 to March 24.
Mercurindo
This year's Indonesia Open will be the first tournament jointly organized by the Indonesia Golf Association, the International Management Group and Mercurindo Sports Marketing.
For the last three years it was sponsored by the Sampoerna Group, one of the country's major cigarette producers.
Secretary-general of the Indonesia Golf Association Taufik Azis said yesterday that the association has entered into a five- year agreement with Mercurindo Sports Marketing, a division of PT Mercurindo Citamurni, and International Management Group to cooperate in organizing and marketing the tournament.
Mark Adams of the International Management Group commented yesterday that the Indonesia Open had featured many young players from North America, Europe, Australia and Asia who then became future stars in the sport. The 1981 Indonesia Open champion, Payne Stewart, is an example. He has won two major championships, the U.S. Open and the U.S. Professional Golf Association championships.
Adam expressed hope that the Indonesia Open will continue to produce golf stars of the future.
Zakir, the JGCC manager said that his club has signed a contract with top New Zealand golfer Frank Nobilo to play under the banner of the club abroad. (arf)