Senior Finishes 6th at Inverness

Peter Senior has once again finished inside the top 10 on the Champions Tour after closing with an even par 71 at the US Senior Open Championship. Senior's 9-under par total placed him 6th in the Championship and moved him up into 7th place behind 3-time winner Tom Lehman on the all important Charles Schwab Cup standings.

Great work Pete!

Peter Senior Contends at US Senior Open

Peter Senior's 3rd consecutive round in the 60's has moved him up into a tie for 3rd place with one round left to play at the US Senior Open Championship. Senior returned scores of 69,67,68 at the Inverness Club and is at 9-under par for the Championship. With a high finish this week, Pete will move right up there amongst the leaders in the Charles Schwab Cup standings.

America's Olin Brown goes into the final round with a 2-shot lead over Mark O'Meara after Brown stormed home on his 3rd round back nine, needing just 29 strokes!

Sock Wins Warren Amateur Open

Several Academy students have performed well at this years Warren Amateur Open but it was Koh Sock Hwee who lead the pack, claiming the overall Ladies Title by 3 strokes.

It was extremely tough going for the Ladies in this World Amateur Ranking Event with the tees pushed back, strong gusty winds and punishing pin positions on the last day. Sock Hwee played very solid golf through the first 7 holes of the final round, at one stage stretching her lead to 8. Former Academy student and SLGA National Squad member Kok Jo Ee posted a challenge to Sock, but it was not quite enough to make up the 6-shot overnight deficit. Sock Hwee stumbled late in the day with a double-bogey on her final hole but it was still enough for her to cruise to a 3-stroke victory.

Fellow Academy student, 16yr old junior Phoebe Tan also played nicely in the final round of the championship, moving her way up to claim 5th place.

In the Men's division of the tournament, Singapore Sports School student Marc Ong who started the final day back in a tie for 9th, opened up his final round with back-to-back birdies. Marc continued to fight hard all day and whilst he did let a number of opportunities slide by on the greens, his closing round of 72 was the lowest score on a very difficult day and good enough for outright 2nd place. Marc won the Warren Amateur Open as a 14yr old last year, so this was a great defense of his title!

Other Academy students to perform commendably were Princeton Yeo and Abdul Hadi. Princeton played some very solid golf throughout the tournament and played himself right into contention on the back nine. He finished in 4th position overall. 15yr old Hadi upstaged all the older more experienced players in round 2 after posting the days lowest round of 71 on a day when scoring was very high owing to the severely undulating and challenging Warren greens.

Congratulation to Sock Hwee and well done to all our students who performed well on this difficult golf course.

Campbell Shoots 66 at Irish Open

Michael Campbell has posted a terrific 5-under par 66 on the first day of the European Tour's Irish Open at Killarney. Cambo, the 2005 US Open champion and former winner of the Irish Open, is in 3rd place behind India's Jeev Milkha Singh.

Campbell made his move on the back nine, picking up five strokes after making the turn at even par. His back nine highlight was an eagle three at the par-five 16th.

Warren Amateur Open Underway

The opening round of the Warren Amateur Open was completed today with some of our Academy students playing their way onto the leaderboard. In the Men's division, Princeton Yeo fired a solid first round of even par 71 to be just one shot off the lead. Princeton has been working hard on his game this year under the guidance of Academy coach Paul Tudor. Fellow Academy student and current Singapore Open Amateur Champion Edgar Oh is 3 shots back of Princeton after a 74, while defending Warren Open Amateur Champion Marc Ong is a further shot back. Marc tasted victory in this World Amateur Ranking event last year as a 14yr old junior!

In the Ladies division, Koh Sock Hwee is in contention just one shot behind the leader after her first round of 79. Scoring was very high in the Ladies division, as the golf course setup was very long and posed a difficult challenge for the girls.

Monica 3rd at Optimist International Junior

Academy junior and rising star Monica Matsabura has played some fantastic golf to finish 3rd in the Girls 13-14yr division of the prestigous Optimist International Junior Golf Championship in Florida. Monica stormed into the lead on the first day of competition at the renowned PGA National Course at Palm Beach Gardens, after equalling her lowest ever tournament score of 3-under par 69. She followed up this brilliant opening round with two steady rounds of 74 and 73 for a 54-hole total of even par 216, just 2 shots behind eventual champion Brooke Henderson of Canada.

It was a very International leaderboard in Monica's division, with the top 10 players representing countries such as Canada, Philippines, Argentina, USA, Hong Kong, Thailand and Indonesia. Monica herself is an American-born Japanese.

Monica has been competing in several major junior events in the US during the past month, including the College Combine-Girls Championship where rounds of 74,78 placed her 13th and also the Callaway Junior World Championship in San Diego where she finished in a tie for 43rd place.

Scott Barr at Selangor Masters

Scott Barr shot a final round of 2-under par 70 at Kota Permai Golf & Country Club to give him a 4-day total of 5-under in the Worldwide Holdings Selangor Masters.

After opening with a 72, Barr recorded 7 birdies and one eagle during his 2nd round of 66, then added another 5 birdies to his tally through 12 holes of the 3rd days play to climb within one shot of the lead. An unfortunate run of dropped shots late in the 3rd round ended his challenge for the title. Barr's total of 18 birdies and an eagle for the tournament shows that he is playing some terrific golf. Once Scott has reduced the number of dropped shots in a tournament, he will be a regular contender on Tour.

Nicholas Ties for 2nd at PGA West

17yr old Nicholas Smits has finished 1-over par and in a tie for 2nd place at the 54-hole FCG World Championship in California. The 15-18yr category of the Championship was played over the famous TPC Stadium Course at the La Quinta Golf Resort, Palm Springs. Nick fired 3 solid rounds of 74,71 and 72 to be just 2 shots adrift of eventual winner and local Californian junior golfer Gordon Neale.

Nicholas will be stopping by the Singapore Academy next week on his way back to Australia where he has been schooling and working on his golf game under the guidance of Gary Edwin's coaching team at The Glades.

Well done Nick!!

Rory Hie tied 2nd at Indonesian Open

Rory Hie came agonizingly close to becoming only the 2nd Indonesian golfer to ever win his countries National Open after a final round 2-under par 70 left him just one shot behind eventual champion Thaworn Wiratchant at the US$1 million dollar Indonesian Open.

Trailing overnight leader Wiratchant by 4 strokes, Hie cruised through the front nine in 3-under par to draw level with the Thai after the leader made bogey on the 9th. Wiratchant then dropped another shot on the 11th to give Hie a 1-stroke lead with 7 holes to play. Both players birdied the short par 5 13th hole before Rory dropped a shot on the difficult par 3 15th. Hie, playing in the 2nd to last group, stood on the 18th tee with a share of the lead but unfortunately his tee shot rolled into the hazard. After taking a penalty drop, Hie managed to land his 3rd shot on the green but could not convert the par-saving putt and dropped back to 12-under par for the tournament. This gave Wiratchant a one shot advantage playing the final hole and a sudden-death play-off beckoned after his tee shot found an awkward lie on the edge of a bunker. Wiratchant was forced to play the shot with his feet in the trap. He splashed it out just short of the green and then chipped to within a foot of the hole to secure his par and the 2011 Indonesian Open title.


Although disappointing for Rory not to go on and claim his maiden Tour victory, it was yet another terrific performance from the 22yr old, who collected a cheque for US$72,500. Hie started working on his golf swing at our Academy in March this year and in the 4 months since then has recorded seven top 10 finishes in tournament play. He has been outstanding in major competition on his home soil, also finishing 2nd in the 2011 Indonesian PGA Championship as well as 9th place behind former World No.1 Lee Westwood in the 2011 Indonesian Masters.

It is only a matter of time before this kid breaks through to the winners circle. Congratulations Rory on another fine effort....great play!

Rory Just 3 off the Pace

Rory Hie is once again putting in a solid performance in his hometown, shooting 68,70 through the first 2 rounds of the US$1 million Indonesian Open.

The tournament is part of the OneAsia Tour and is being played at Damai Indah Golf - Pantai Indah Kapuk Course. Rory got off to a slow start in today's 2nd round but battled hard to finish with birdies on his last 3 holes. The 22yr old Indonesian is trying to become only the second Indonesian to win the National Open since Kasiadi in 1989.

SGA Win Annual Match against MGA

The Singapore Golf Association have won their Annual Match against The Malaysian Golf Association by a single point. The SGA recorded 12 1/2pts to the MGA's 11 1/2pts in a closely fought match over 2 days at Sentosa's Serapong Course.

The Singapore Team comprised 8 boys from the SGA National & Youth Squad plus 4 girls from the SLGA National Squad. In credit to the work our Academy has done toward developing elite golfers in Singapore, 9 of the 12 players representing Team SGA had come through our Academies training program.

Congratulations to all players who represented Team Singapore!!

Barr & Hie share 9th place in Malaysia

Scott Barr and Rory Hie have shot final rounds of 69 and 68 respectively to end their campaign at the Negeri Sembilan Masters Invitational in a tie for 9th place on 8-under par.
The tournament was part of the Asean PGA Tour and was won by Asian Tour regular Siddikur who stormed home for victory with a final round 65.

Academy Juniors finish well in San Diego

Nicholas Smits and Monica Matsubara have recorded top 10 finishes in their respective divisions at the San Diego Junior Masters.

Nick opened with a one-over par 73 in the Boys 15-18yr division, before firing up the leaderboard in round 2 when he got it to 3-under through the first 6 holes. A bogey on the final hole of the tournament cost Nick what could have been a runner-up finish. His 2nd round 72 placed him in a tie for 5th.

13yr old Monica continued her good form, shooting two very steady rounds of 74,75 to finish in a tie for 10th place in the Girls 13-14yr category. Both golfers will now make their way to the Callaway Junior World Championships after Monica won the qualifying tournament for Girls 2 weeks back. Nicholas has a very good record of achievement in the Junior World Championships, so expect to see his name up on the leaderboard.

Best of luck to our juniors at the World Championships!!

Pampling Finishes AT&T with a 66

Rod Pampling finished the PGA Tour's AT&T National with a bogey free round of 66 which moved him up into a tie for 38th. This was a great finish considering that Rod started the week with a quadruple bogey 8 on the 1st hole after a very difficult chip shot came rolling back to his feet 3 times!

Sock makes Ladies European Tour Debut

Singapore amateur golfer Koh Sock Hwee had the privelege of playing in her very first Ladies European Tour event, when she teed it up this week at the Finnair Masters. 21yr old Koh, playing on a sponsors invitation, took a week away from her university studies to seize the opportunity and gain the invaluable experience of playing alongside Europe's best female professional golfers.

Sock fired a pair of 77's around Helsinki Golf Club, which was very respectable considering she is a full-time university student who only plays part-time tournament golf. She hit the ball very solid from tee to green but unfortunately could not convert the putts. Sock did however have the opportunity to play in the same group as the 1st round leader Titiya Plucksataporn who opened with a fabulous round of 65.

Sock has been training at our Academy for many years and has a terrific golf swing. I am sure the experience of competing on the European Tour will give Sock Hwee the inspiration to continue working at her game after she completes her studies.