Local players look forward to Sarawak golf championship

KUCHING: Malaysia's professional golfer Ben Leong is looking forward to next week's Sarawak Championship at the Damai Golf and Country Club Course near here from July 4 to 7.
"It is a nice golf course in great shape and beautiful scenery and I am sure golfers will enjoy playing there," said Ben at a press conference here today. Ben is ranked 40 in the Asian Tour.
Ben, who is from Sabah, said he decided not to compete in the Korean Open this week to concentrate on the Sarawak Championship and hoped to win something here.
Another professional golfer, Nicholas Fung, also from Sabah, said he was delighted with the new addition of the Sarawak Championship in the Asian Tour and hoped to win his second Asian Tour title at the event.
"I know the Sarawak state government and the Ministry of Tourism, Arts, Culture, Youth and Sports have been trying so hard to host an Asian Tour event and now that it is happening, it is good for Sarawak and the Malaysian golfers.
"The culture in Sarawak is different, so the players can expect a very nice cultural change as compared to Kuala Lumpur where we usually have our Asian Tour events," he said.
"The course is nice. I have played a lot at the Damai course when I was an amateur, so I am really looking forward to it," said Fung.
The Sarawak Championship is the third new Asian Tour event announced this year following the Asia-Pacific Classic in China and UMA CNS Open Golf Championship which is staged in Pakistan.
The Asian Tour also sanctioned the ISPS HANDA New Zealand Open for the first time earlier this year.
Meanwhile, Sarawak Tourism, Arts, Culture, Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah, who was at the press conference, said the state government was happy to be part of the prestigious tournament as it could help to promote Sarawak tourism.
He hoped local players would also make an impact at the tournament.
The tournament is sponsored by the Sarawak government and Sarawak Energy Berhad. — Bernama