Indonesia Open organizers change Jagorawi golf course
Indonesia Open organizers change Jagorawi golf course
JAKARTA (JP): In its efforts to make the Indonesia Open golf championship more challenging, organizers have decided to change the Jagorawi Golf and Country Club from a par-72 to a par-71 layout.
The 6,275-meter golf link designed by Peter Thomson and Michael Wolveridge, has been chosen by the Indonesia Golf Association to host the event, held for the first time in 1974.
"Following an evaluation of each hole we decided to alter the par-5 on the 10th to a par-4 to make the competition more challenging," Mark Adam of the International Management Group told The Jakarta Post yesterday.
IMG and Mercurindo Sports Marketing are jointly organizing the US$250,000 tournament. For the last three years the event was named the Sampoerna Indonesia Open, after the sponsor, a giant clove cigarette producer.
The annual tournament is due to tee off today and will last until Sunday. It will see a huge field of golfers from as many as 10 countries competing for the US$250,000 cash prize.
In yesterday's pro-am tournament, the official training before the competition proper, saw American Steve Flesch win the individual event with a 5-under par-66.
Stephen Leaney of Australia, a regular golfer on the Asian Tour, came second, one shot behind.
Two shots behind Flesch with a score of 68 in joint third place were Garry Webb (U.S.), Kim Jong-Duck (Kor) and Raul Fretes (Paraguay). Webb was the champion when the 1993 Sampoerna Indonesia Open was held at the Bali Golf and Country Club in Nusa Dua.
In its 21-year history, Kasiyadi from Surabaya was the first and only local golfer to win the title in 1989.
Kasiyadi scored an impressive 11-under-par 273 to win the 1989 Indonesia Open at the Jakarta Golf Club, the country's oldest layout.
"Now the challenge is getting tougher and tougher and tougher every year. I think it's very hard for local players to win the event now," Maan Naasim, a leading local golfer said.
The 1996 Asian Tour will feature 11 tournaments, with the Indonesia Open being the sixth, and will end with the $1,000,000 Kirin Open Golf Championship in Ibaraki, Japan.
The eleven series in the Asian Tour offer cash prizes well over $4 million in total. Once again Asia's top golfers will do battle with many rising young stars from North and South America, Europe and Australia. (rsl)