'There is light at the end of the tunnel'
Avie K. Utomo, Contributor, Jakarta
After a year of no major wins in 2003, top golfer Tiger Woods may still dominate golf in 2004. If not, he will still be putting within the 42 seconds he's allowed by the rule. Will he make a surprising comeback, like he did in the first two months of last year?
For sure, another famous golfer Vijay Singh may be "singh-in" again to the tune of "There's no business like golf business", after being voted 2nd Player of the Year behind Tiger. A reprise, that is!
Yes, the PGA Tour will still dictate the golf world, as ever. The 2004 season will see to it that they are unbeatable, in terms of prize money and record breaking. Nevertheless, it's just cool to see a few familiar faces on the rookies list.
Indians Daniel Chopra and Arjun Atwal, who played Jagorawi or Nusa Dua in the past, are now among the world's best. Yet, the PGA Tour is much more competitive than that fading European Tour, and definitely a hundred-fold tougher than the struggling Asian PGA Tour.
Unfortunately, Indonesia, as far as golfing is concerned, is still looked at with deep concern. This year is an election year for Indonesia, during which we will witness the elections of new legislators and more importantly a new president. Although political campaigns that often incite riots are expected to have no impact on the country's golf events, all local major tournament sponsors will still hold their breaths.
At best, most of them will fly the coop. At worst, there'll be lots of MIAs (missing in action). They just can't afford to be seen. Literally!
So, don't expect much. The local scene will not get off the ground. The PGA of Indonesia will continue to stumble and strive.
Tiger's scoring average of 68.41 awarded him another Vardon Trophy, but the best average the best player this country has to offer is a meager 74 points something.
But things aren't all that bad. In amateur golf, we've seen child prodigy Alexander Sitompul win the Singapore Amateur Championship 2003, beating his closest opponent by 14 strokes.
This 13-year-old boy, hailing from Indonesia's oldest golf club, the Jakarta Golf Club, has shown that there's light at the end of the tunnel.
As a matter of fact, the local junior scene, with its monthly tournaments, is set to be continued this year thanks to the dedication of all the young players' parents, who, though none of them go quite as far as Earl Woods or the frugal Mr. Park, Se Ri's dad, provide staunch support for their children.
And many predict that the new busway system -- which will kick off on Jan. 15 -- will only worsen the city's traffic jams. But this could be good news for golf clubs as ironically it will bring most of the golfers out on the courses during peak hours.