World Golfers Invitational - Singapore

Golf For The Everyman
The World Golfers Championship, launching this month in Singapore, will give amateurs of all levels to compete on a global basis.

Report by Ju K. Tan

One of the pet peeves among competitive amateur golfers in Singapore is that there are too few tournaments to play in. Sure, we have a list of corporate events here and there but, apart from the Singapore Open Amateur and the National Amateur, golfers serious about their games have little place to take them.

The launch of the World Golfers Championship in Singapore this month should put some of these complaints at bay. Not only will this international event allow top amateurs here to let their clubs do the talking, it will also give mid- to high-handicappers a taste of what it feels like to compete on a national, and global, platform.

The way it works is beautiful in its simplicity, especially if you consider the luminaries behind the event. It all began when Sven Tumba, Sweden’s all-time ice hockey great (he was voted “Best Swedish Hockey Player Throughout Time” in 1999), believed that all amateurs should have the opportunity to compete in an international golf event. Tumba played top-level amateur golf after his ice hockey career (he also played soccer for Sweden in the late 50s), representing Sweden in the 1971 Eisenhower Trophy and the 1973 World Cup.

Tumba managed to get his friend, the legendary Arnold Palmer, to endorse his idea of the World Golfers’ Championship, and the event was born in 1995. Today, Palmer is the Honorary Tournament Patron while another all-time great, Seve Ballesteros, is the Honorary Chairman to the Advisory Board.

Each year since 1995, the World Golfers Championship finals would be played at a different location around the world. Participating countries would send their teams of five golfers each to compete. Each of the golfers making up the teams need to come from the five handicap levels – 0 -5, 6-10, 11-15, 16-20 and 21-25.

In Singapore this year, there will be 13 qualifying rounds, held at the 13 different golf clubs in Singapore (see box), to determine the country finalists. The World Golfers Championship Singapore finals will be held at one of the golf clubs here, and the final 5-person team will be selected from the winners in each handicap category.

“This handicap is unique because anybody with a handicap can play, and eventually represent Singapore in the 2008 World Golfers Championship that will be held this November in the USA,” says Matthew Murray, Tournament Director for the World Golfers Championship Singapore. “It is extremely attractive for the competitive amateurs – regardless of his or her handicap – as they get to qualify for an all-expense paid trip to the final at an exotic location and get to meet Arnold Palmer there. In fact, through our discussions with the various Singapore golf clubs, one of them said that it sounded too good to be true.”

The 2008 World Golfers Championship Finals will be held this year at the Mission Inn Resort and Club in Florida, USA. The qualifying golfers from each handicap category will not only earn a trip there but will also enjoy the accolade of representing Singapore in the process.

More information how it works, see below.

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How It Works

World Golfers Championship Singapore 2008 will consist of qualifying rounds of 18 holes each to be played at most of the Singapore golf clubs from April to October this year.

Each round will have a maximum of 128 golfers. The confirmed dates to be played at:

Keppel Club - Wednesday 9th April
Sembawang Country Club - Friday 25th April
Jurong Country Club - Friday 2nd May
Orchid Country Club - Wednesday 18th June
National Service Golf & Country Club - Friday 1st August
Laguna National Golf & Country Club - July
Sentosa Golf Club - Wednesday 6th August

The Singapore Finals will be held in October, 2008, at one of the above courses.

The top five WGC winners from each club will be eligible for the final.
The winners of each of the five handicap categories - 0 -5, 6-10, 11-15, 16-20 and 21-25 - will form the team representing Singapore at the 2008 World Golfers Championship Finals to be held at the Mission Inn Resort and Club in Florida, USA (missioninnresort.com) from 23-29 November, 2008.

To register, email Matthew Murray at wgc.singapore08@gmail.com or call +65 96399020, or email Sazali Bava at sazali@cneholidays.com
Golf Digest Singapore is the official golf magazine for the 2008 World Golfers’ Championship Singapore.
For more information, visit www.worldgolferschampionship.com.

Image options: Arnold Palmer and/or Seve Ballesteros. In the process of obtaining image from Mission Inn Resort.