M

ercedes-Benz Indonesia assured on Monday that the challenging Rancamaya Golf and Country Club course in Ciawi, Bogor, West Java, will serve as an ideal selection ground for the country’s best seven amateur golfers to compete at the Asian Final of the 19th Mercedes Trophy in Australia in August.

The National Final will be held on Thursday with as many as 63 golfers qualifying through last month’s qualifiers, which saw 750 Mercedes-Benz owners-cum-golf enthusiasts in Surabaya, Jakarta and Medan.

“We’d rather have a difficult course to have a good selection of only the best players that can participate at the higher levels,” President and CEO of the Mer-cedes-Benz Indonesia Rudi Borgenheimer told a media conference on Monday.

According to the golf club’s official website, www.rancamaya.com, the course is a challenge to golfers, where each and every hole is distinctly memorable.

It offers 18 separate challenges that require a variety of shots to score effectively. Multiple tees, strategically placed hazards and pin settings of various rigors will vary the challenges each day.

The seven best golfers consist of the winners and runner-ups of the men’s Division A (handicap 0-12), Division B (handicap 13-20), Division C (handicap 21-24) and the winner of the Women Division (handicap 0-36).

They will be qualified to swing among other finalists from Thailand, Vietnam, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, Sri Lanka and the Philippines at the August 24-26 Asian Final in Sanctuary Cove Resort, Gold Coast, Queensland.

One of the best players of the team seven will represent Indonesia, which holds Mercedes Benz’s Asian market share by 60 percent, at the Mercedes Trophy world final right in the birth place of the automotive brand in Stuttgart, Germany, from Sept. 28 to Oct. 3.

As Indonesia’s participation in the event began in 1992, the country has sent seven world finalists, including Erick Ridwan last year, Johanes Diman (2009), Yuslia
Hadi (2008), Ahmad Sahroni (2007), Kamaruddin Usman (2005), Karim Susanto (2004), Salim Sridjaja (2003).

“Golf is one of our important marketing tools. Mercedes-Benz also supports excellent golfers in Indonesia and in the future will support the younger ones,” said Rudi, adding that the company had supported as many as 80 golf events nationwide every year, including the seven pro tournaments of the Indonesian PGA, the Indonesian Open and the Indonesian Masters.

— JP/Agnes Winarti