Sunday 27 March 2011

Pampling Finishes Well at Bay Hill


Rod Pampling has shot a solid final round of 71 to finish in a tie for 12th at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. On a very tough week for scoring, Rod finished with a total of 2-under par for the tournament, one shot ahead of Tiger Woods.

Gary Edwin was with Rod this week at Bay Hill and said he played great all week, commenting...."He left a couple of putts in the heart early but otherwise played really solid".

Rod will always have fond memories of Bay Hill after triumphing in this event back in 2006.

Rory Hie 2nd at Indonesian PGA Championship


In what was a commendable performance for a 22yr old, Indonesia's rising star Rory Hie has finished outright 2nd at the OneAsia Tour's Indonesian PGA Championship in Jakarta, collecting a cheque for US$102,000.

Playing in front of a home crowd in Sunday's final round, Rory shot 1-under through his first 9 holes and held on to the lead heading into the back nine. Hie then stumbled on the par 5 11th after his 2nd shot unfortunately hit a tree and finished out of bounds. Hie went on to drop 2 shots and give up the lead to Australia's Andre Stolz. With another bogey on the par 4 12th hole, it seemed as though the tournament was well out of his grasp, but in a gutsy display, Rory went on to birdie the 14th, 17th and 18th to end up just one shot short of forcing a playoff with eventual winner Andre Stolz.

This was a terrific effort by Rory considering that the Indonesian PGA Championship was his first tournament back after recently spending time at the Singapore Academy remodelling his golf swing. Looks like he is back on the right path and has a bright future in tournament golf.

Congratulations Rory!

Monica T20 in Thailand Ladies Amateur Open


Monica Matsubara might have been the youngest competitor at this years SINGHA Thailand Ladies Amateur Open Championship, but age and inexperience didn't stop the 13yr old Academy student from finishing inside the top 20.

The Amateur Championship was played over 54 holes at Thailand's Bangkok Golf Club. Monica put together rounds of 78,74 to survive the cut before a final round of 77 placed her in a tie for 20th behind eventual winner Chihiro Ikeda.

Saturday 26 March 2011

Hie Fires 67 to Lead Indonesian PGA


22yr old Rory Hie continued his great play from yesterday, firing a 3rd round 5-under par 67 to storm his way into the lead at the US$1million Indonesian PGA Championship. Hie reeled off 7 birdies for the day at Imperial Klub Golf, courtesy of a solid ball-striking display and some brilliant putting. Hie began the day 3 shots off the lead but soon overcame the deficit with birdies on 5 of the first 6 holes. Hie is now 13-under for the tournament and will take a one shot lead going into Sunday's final round. Overnight tournament leader Matthew Millar is one shot behind, Andre Stolz and Park Eun Shin a further shot back in a tie for 3rd.

It's been less than 3 weeks since we started working on Rory's swing changes, so he's doing a fantastic job to make it all work so well under the pressure of tournament play. The weight of an entire nation will be on this talented young Indonesian's shoulders tomorrow as he attempts to record what could possibly be Indonesian golf's greatest achievement to date.

The Academy wishes Rory all the very best for the final round!

Friday 25 March 2011

Rory Contends at Indonesian PGA


Rory Hie has continued his great play in Jakarta, posting a 2nd round 68 at the Indonesian PGA Championship. Similar to yesterday's round, Rory got away to another terrific start today....making the turn in 4-under. With one birdie and only one blemish on his second nine, Rory's 68 puts him 8-under for the Championship.

Rory will now give the local Indonesian crowd plenty to cheer for over the weekend as he sits just 3 shots off the lead held by Australia's Matthew Millar. Millar added a 2nd round of 70 to his course record opening round of 63 to be at 11-under par.

If Rory continues to swing the club as well as he has been then you can expect to see this promising young Indonesian contending on sunday for this, the first tournament on the 2011 OneAsia Tour schedule.

Thursday 24 March 2011

Rory Back on Track


Young Indonesian golfer Rory Hie has fired a terrific opening round of 68 at the Indonesian PGA Championship. The 22yr old got off to a flying start at The Imperial Klub Golf....stringing together 4 birdies in his first 5 holes.

Rory became the first Indonesian golfer to earn an Asian Tour card, however struggled with his game last year on Tour....at one stage missing six consecutive cuts. Rory recently made the trip over to Singapore to spend some quality time working with me on improving his swing technique in an effort to eliminate the hooks from his game. With some minor adjustments to his setup angles and posture, we then worked toward narrowing the radius of his backswing and minimizing his amount of shoulder turn at the beginning of his swing. This prevented the club from swinging too far around his body with the clubface shutting. As a result, Rory was able to keep the face angle more square to his body and cover the ball more at impact, therefore improving the quality of contact and his ball flight.

We also worked toward incorporating these new swing movements into Rory's pitching. Rory was immediately then able to make better contact with his pitch shots, trimming out the divots...hitting them higher and softer.

Should be exciting to see how far this young Indonesian talent can go. Keep up the good play Rory!

Thursday 17 March 2011

Barr Falls One Short at Hiro Food Classic


Scott Barr has fallen just short of winning the SPGA Hiro Food Classic after a final round 2-under par 70 at Raffles Country Club.

Barr had earlier rounds of 72 and a brilliant 67 to trail fellow Asian Tour player Zaw Moe by 2 shots heading into the 3rd and final round. Scott put up a strong challenge against Zaw but unfortunately could not convert a birdie opportunity on the 18th which would have forced a playoff.

Singapore's No.1 player Mardan Mamat was a further shot back in 3rd place.

Wednesday 9 March 2011

Lucius and Rachel Win CIMB Qualifier

The CIMB Junior Golf Development Programme Qualifying Tournament was held over 2 days at Keppel Golf Club. Academy juniors Lucius Toh and Rachel Cheang claimed victory in the Boys "A" Division and Girls "A" Division respectively.

I the Boys Division, Lucius trailed the leader by one shot after an opening round of 77 which included a disastrous triple bogey on his final hole. Lucius however did not let this affect his game on the 2nd day of competition and played some terrific golf to card an even par round of 72. This proved good enough for a commanding 6-shot win! Fellow Academy junior Leonard Tee had 2 steady rounds to finish in 3rd place.

In the Girls Division, Rachel Cheang overcame a 3-shot deficit to narrowly win the qualifier by just one shot over Keppel Club member Wong Yen Ting.

Congratulations to both Lucius and Rachel who by winning the qualifier have earnt themselves a trip to the Unites States to attend the CIMB Junior Golf Development Programme.

Sunday 6 March 2011

Top Ten Finish for Hadi in Qatar

The Qatar Open Amateur Championship was played from the 3rd-5th March in very tough windy conditions. Academy junior golfer Abdul Hadi put in a steady performance at Doha Golf Club to finish in a tie for 7th behind England's Max Wiliams.

This was a World Amateur Ranking Event, so therefore a fine result for a 15yr old!