Ashwin Bhanu and Joey Poh top 3rd Leg of HSBC Youth Golf Challenge

Contributed by Shane Neubronner

NSRCC-Kranji Sacntuary Golf Course, Tuesday, September 7, 2010 — The third leg of the HSBC Youth Golf Challenge (YGC) saw Ashwin Bhanu and Joey Poh emerge victorious in the Boys ‘A’ and Girls ‘A’ categories respectively.

There were close finishes in both sections, which comprised of youth golfers aged 15 to 17 years old, but both Ashwin and Joey displayed composure and confidence to top their groups.

Ashwin Bhanu, who finished with a final score of 148 (75,73) after two rounds, one stroke ahead of Abdul Hadi, was visibly excited about his victory. He explained: “I think I played well today. I hope to continue working hard and I aim to win the overall HSBC YGC title at the end of the year!”

Joey Poh, a golfer currently training under the Youth Golf Excellence Programme (YGEP), had a close finish carding a two-round total of 165 (83,82) ahead of Nadhra Aqilah Bte Mohd Saiful who finished with a 166 (80,86) total. Joey also very happy with her performance. She said: “I am disappointed to be a bit over but I managed to come back in the second half today and it was good enough for the win.”

In the ‘B’ Division, for promising golfers aged 12 to 14 years old, Edgar Oh followed up his victory at the Singapore Open Amateur Championship last month by clinching first place ahead of Marc Ong in the boys’ category, whilst Lim Jia Yi took top spot in the girls’ group with Asha Lakshme placing second.

A total of 57 up-and-coming golfers took to the course today, which included six players from the YGEP initiated by HSBC. The programme was set up to develop promising golfers and increase their level of experience in the game by providing skills training as well as physical and psychological mentoring.

Featuring the nation’s top youth golfers, the HSBC Youth Golf Challenge is a series of four youth golf tournaments organised throughout the year by the Singapore Golf Association. The tournaments are open to students aged 12 to 17 years and are an invaluable opportunity for youth golfers to hone their competitive skills within a friendly and educational environment.

The HSBC Youth Golf Challenge, currently in its fourth year, also serves as an excellent complement to the HSBC Youth Golfers Programme, offering youth golfing talents of the programme with an ideal platform to gain vital exposure to competitions and different golf courses.

“Congratulations to our winners today in what has been a very competitive two days of golf at the beautiful NSRCC–Kranji Sanctuary Golf Course. It is great to see this crop of young golfers improving throughout the year and we are glad to be supporting and nurturing them as part of HSBC’s top-to-bottom approach to golf,” said Mr Alex Hungate, HSBC Singapore Chief Executive Officer.

The fourth and final leg of the HSBC Youth Golf Challenge will be held from 7 to 8 December 2010 at the Laguna National Golf & Country Club.