Scott Barr Wins by Five

Scott Barr has ended his season with a commanding wire-to-wire victory on the Singapore PGA Circuit.

Barr's 54-hole total of 4-under par at Raffles Country Club was good enough to triumph by 5 shots over Unho Park and Mardan Mamat.

Congratulations Scott on a nice finish to the year!!

Barr Maintains Lead at Raffles

Scott Barr has shot an even par round of 72 to be at 5-under through two rounds of the SPGA's final tournament of 2010. Barr will enjoy a 3-shot lead going into the 3rd and final round.

Raffles Palm Course has proved to be very difficult for most players, with only Barr and Mardan Mamat being under par after 36 holes of play. Marc Kawasoe who has worked on his swing technique under my instruction at the Academy, put together a nice 2nd round of 71 to lie in 4th place.

Playing on an amateur invite, Edgar Oh remained consistent with a second successive round of 74 to be in 8th place with just one round to play.

Barr Leads SPGA Event

The final tournament on the SPGA Circuit for 2010 is underway at Raffles Country Club. The event is being played over 3 rounds on the Palm Course, with Scott Barr opening up a huge 5 stroke lead after the first days play. Barr shot 67 on day one, blitzing the back nine in just 31 strokes. Barr leads a group of fellow Asian Tour players headed by Zaw Moe on even par 72.

Academy junior Edgar Oh, playing on an amateur invite, shot a commendable first round 74.

Marc and Edgar Claim HSBC Youth Titles

Academy juniors Marc Ong and Edgar Oh have capped off a brilliant year of golf at the Final Leg of the HSBC Youth Challenge.

Marc Ong (pic above) claimed the Overall HSBC Youth Golf Challenge Series Title for 2010. Marc shot a terrific round of 3-under par 69 in the second and final round at Laguna National to gain enough points to narrowly finish ahead of Edgar Oh on 128pts to Edgar's 125pts. The win has earned Marc a trip to compete in the 2011 HSBC China Junior Golf Open to be held at Shenzhen Zhongzheng Golf Club from 20-23 January 2011.



Edgar, (pic above) who shot the round of the year with a 7-under par 65 on the first day of competition, finished with a 73 to comfortably win the Boys "A" Division title by 5 strokes.

In the Girls "A" Division, Lim Jia Yi took second place with rounds of 78,79. In the Girls "B" Division, Dion Lim (pic below) shot a second round 74 to claim another victory for our Academy students.



Well done to all winners!

Edgar Impresses at HSBC Youth Challenge

14yr old Edgar Oh has once again made everyone stand up and take notice after he fired a blistering 7-under par round of 65 in the opening round of the HSBC Youth Challenge. Edgar, the reigning Open Amateur Champion reeled off 8 birdies and just one bogey around the Laguna National Masters Course to take a 4-shot lead.

Other commendable results from our Academy juniors in the 15-17yrs division came from Princeton Yeo, Abdul Hadi and Nicholas Lim who all shot 75. Billie Pay and current HSBC Youth Order of Merit leader Marc Ong both shot 76. In the 12-14yrs division, Lucius Toh got off to a solid start with a round of 77.

Senior Triumphs in Dramatic Playoff

Peter Senior has triumphed at the Australian PGA Championship for the 3rd time in his career after a dramatic playoff victory against fellow Aussie Geoff Ogilvy. After a legendary performance at 51yrs of age, Senior will go into the record books as the oldest winner of the Kirkwood Cup, a trophy he also claimed in 1989 and 2003.

Ogilvy stormed into contention on the 5th day of the rain-affected tournament at Hyatt Regency Coolum after shooting a 6-under par 66 to take the clubhouse lead on 12-under. Senior then birdied the 72nd hole in spectacular fashion to force a playoff. The tournament then went into a sudden-death playoff where Senior triumphed on the 2nd extra hole after Ogilvy 3-putted for bogey.

Since his first professional victory in the 1979 South Australian Open, Peter Senior has incredibly recorded tournament victories across five decades!

Congratulations to Pete for a brilliant performance in becoming the 2010 Australian PGA Champion!! Congratulations and credit must also go to Gary and Luke Edwin who have done such great work with Pete's golf swing and putting stroke...well done guys! What an awesome end to the 2010 season!!

Senior Contends for third Australian PGA Title

At 51yrs of age, Peter Senior is in contention to claim his 3rd Australian PGA Championship, 21yrs after his first victory at Riverside Oaks.

Senior fired a 3rd round 68 to be 11-under for the Championship and lies just one shot off the lead held by American Bobby Gates. On a difficult windy day at the Hyatt Regency Coolum, Senior made 5 birdies with his only dropped shot coming at the opening par 5 1st hole. Senior credited the work he has done with Gary and Luke Edwin for a solid three days of putting. Senior has had a terrific record around the Hyatt Coolum golf course over the years and will certainly be hard to beat if he continues to putt well again tomorrow.

Best of luck Pete!!

19th SICC Junior Invitational

Several Academy juniors contested the 19th SICC Junior Invitational played over 54 holes at SICC's Bukit Course. The Bukit Course has played host to several international professional tournaments. In recent times the course has been the venue for events such as the Johhnie Walker Classic, Singapore Open, Singapore Masters and The Lexus Cup.

There was a strong international flavour at this years event, with junior competitors representing Asian countries such as Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, China, India and Philippines. Other countries represented outside of Asia included Australia, USA, Canada and UK.

The best performance among our students went to Singapore National Squad member Marc Ong who fired rounds of 69,72,75 to win the Boys 13-15yrs division by one shot over Thailand's Nattawat Suratjanakorn. 14yr old Edgar Oh climbed his way up to 4th behind Marc after he finished off his week with a 2-under par round of 69. Billie Pay's commendable 2nd round of 69 helped him secure a top 10 finish in the 16-19yrs division.

Aus PGA Championship - round 1

Gary Edwin has a small stable of players competing at this years Australian PGA Championships which is being played at Hyatt Regency Coolum on the Sunshine Coast.

At the completion of the first days play, Rod Pampling and Scott Laycock are the best of his charges after both shot rounds of 4-under par 68. Pampling put together 4 birdies and an eagle in his round while Laycock reeled off 6 birdies and a couple of bogeys. The 2003 Aus PGA Champion Peter Senior opened his 2011 campaign with a 70. The newest player to join the Edwin stable, Michael Campbell, continued his return to form with an opening 1-under par round of 71.

Barr Secures Japan Tour Card

Scott Barr has made it through the gruelling 6-round Final Stage of Japan Tour Qualifying School on 7-under par and in a tie for 39th place. The top 90 players out of a field of 182 have earned their right to compete on the Japan Tour in 2011 with the higher ranked players gaining more tournament starts next year.

Barr will divide his playing time next year between the Japan Tour and Asian Tour where he currently lies 21st on the Order of Merit with one tournament remaining. The season will come to a close at next weeks US$600,000 Black Mountain Masters in Hua Hin, Thailand.

Well done Scott...all the best on Tour in 2011!

Michael Campbell seeks out Gary Edwin

Former US Open champion Michael Campbell has had a difficult time on the golf course over the past 2 years. In 19 events on the European Tour in 2010, he missed the halfway cut as many as 16 times. Only twice did he shoot rounds in the 60s; on nine occasions he soared into the 80s. And his winnings of €13,576, a far cry from the $2,496,269 he collected on the European Tour in 2005.

Fortunately things now appear to be turning around for Cambo. A couple of weeks back Campbell seeked out the help of "The Guru" Gary Edwin and began refining his swing technique. He then shot four steady rounds at the Australian Masters, finishing tied for 28th place. Then at The Lakes Golf Club in Sydney last week, Campbell put together rounds of 71,71,69,70 for a 7-under total and a tie for 12th at the Australian Open Championship.

“The last three days have been very encouraging,” said Campbell, after posting a third round of 69.

“I’ve been working with a new coach in Gary Edwin for the last two weeks. He’s been a great help. I hit 15 greens in each of the first two rounds and 16 today. If I’d had any luck on the greens at all, I would be right up there in contention. That’s a nice feeling. I couldn’t really have been further south than I was this season.

“Still, I have to admit I’m happy just to be heading in the right direction. We’ve worked hard on just simplifying everything. In fact, I’ve been doing the same off the course. We moved house recently and I threw out a lot of stuff. Basically, I’ve done the same with my golf swing; I’ve thrown out all the rubbish. Gary has given me a new lease of life. Today, I hit so many quality shots that finished pin-high, which is always a good sign. At last I’m swinging the club well.”

Gary Edwin has had an obvious and immediate influence on the Kiwi's game. “All we’ve really done is get Michael back to swinging the way he was when he won the US Open at Pinehurst in 2005,” Edwin says.

“He has so much talent; it didn’t take him long for him to get back to ‘flushing’ it. Once he starts putting better, he’ll be back in contention before long. I’m looking forward to watching him next year.” And while Campbell started working late last year with legendary Scottish coach Bob Torrance, Campbell confirmed his arrangement with Edwin is permanent.

So much so, Edwin will travel with Campbell to Abu Dhabi mid-January for the first event of Campbell’s new 2011 European Tour season.

Barr Tied 5th in Japan

Scott Barr added a 3-under par 69 to his opening round of 68 at the Japan Tour's Final Stage Q-School. Scott is 7-under par and just 4 shots out of the lead. Gary Edwin's students Scott Laycock is 2-under par and currently in a tie for 58th.


There are 184 players competing in this Final Stage, with the field cut to the top 90 players after 4 rounds, before another 2 rounds to determine each players ranking for the 2011 season. The Japan Tour Q-School is the most gruelling of qualifying schools with the Japan Tour being the most lucrative Professional Golf Tour in Asia.

Sock Hwee and Edgar Finish 2nd

The 5th and Final NRG for 2010 was played over 54 holes this week with our Academy students taking out 2nd place for both the Men's and Ladies divisions.

It was hard work and a high-scoring event for the ladies as they were pushed back to compete off the "white tees". Koh Sock Hwee (pic above) fought off former Academy student Kok Jo Ee for 2nd place, 5 shots adrift from eventual winner and another former Academy student Joey Poh.

In the Men's division, it was another solid performance from our youngest ever National Open Amateur Champion Edgar Oh who had rounds of 73,75,72 for a 2nd place finish behind former Singapore Sports School student Joshua Shou. 15yr old Marc Ong who led the pack into the second round, slipped back into a tie for 7th after an unfortunate triple bogey on the par 5 10th hole.

Australian Open - round 1

Rod Pampling (pic above) and Peter Senior are both off to a great start in the 2010 Australian Open. The pair shot matching 4-under par 68's around the Lakes Golf Club in Sydney. Pete Senior is coming off a wire-to-wire victory in the Australian Senior Open in Perth and looks to once again contend for the Aussie Open title...a championship he last won in 1989.

Final Stage Japan Q-School underway

The 4th and Final Stage of the long and gruelling Japan Tour Qualifying School got underway yesterday at Central Golf Club (Ibaraki).

Scott Barr (pic above) opened his six-round campaign nicely with a 4-under par 68 on the East Course to sit just 2 shots off the pace. Leading the pack are fellow Asian Tour players Angelo Que and Chawalit Plaphol who also played their first round on the East Course. Australia's Scott Laycock who has been refining his swing technique this year under Gary Edwin, is on 2-under around the West Course.

Academy Juniors Take Early Lead

The 5th and final National Ranking Game for 2010 got underway yesterday with our Juniors charging to the top of the leaderboard.

In the Men's division, Marc Ong shares the lead with Gregory Foo after they shot similar rounds of even par 72 at Tanah Merah Tampines Course. Edgar Oh is just one shot back after shooting 73. Other respectable scores from the junior contingent came from Ashwin Bhanu with 76, Abdul Hadi 77 and Billie Pay 77.

In the Ladies division, Lim Jia Yi shot a solid round of 4-over par 76 to lead by 2 shots over SLGA National player Joey Poh.

The next round will be played at Raffles Palm Course, then back to Tanah Merah for the 3rd and final round.