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Indonesia Masters makes room for youth development
Back to defend his title: Bernd Wiesberger with his trophy during the 2013 CIMB Niaga Indonesian Masters golf tournament
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Back to defend his title: Bernd Wiesberger with his trophy during the 2013 CIMB Niaga Indonesian Masters golf tournament. (JP/P.J. Leo) (JP/P.J. Leo)
Back to defend his title: Bernd Wiesberger with his trophy during the 2013 CIMB Niaga Indonesian Masters golf tournament. (JP/P.J. Leo)
A coaching clinic for young golfers has been arranged as one of the prominent side programs during the upcoming CIMB Niaga Indonesian Masters golf tournament as the organizers look to youth development.
While the US$750,000 tournament, which will be held from April 24'27 at Royale Jakarta Golf Club, is expected to provide an entertaining golf display by top players from Asia and around the world, the organizers said that they were also concerned about developing the youth game.
'We are thankful that CIMB Niaga has been given the chance to be involved in the event since 2012. The cooperation will carry us for another three years to come. We are committed to elevating junior and amateur players by arranging the program before the proper tournament,' title sponsor CIMB Niaga head of corporate communications Harsya Denny Suryo said during a media conference on Thursday.
The youth development initiatives of the tournament will include three golf clinics conducted at the tournament venue by US-based pro Michael Shelton for 20 young golfers selected by the Indonesian Golf Association and CIMB Foundation.
The program will be conducted monthly beginning in January 2014 and include a one-and-a-half-hour clinic followed by a nine-hole playing lesson with the top five most attentive juniors from each session winning a chance to have an exclusive behind-the-scenes access to the CIMB Niaga Indonesian Masters 2014.
'They also get an opportunity to meet the star players of the tournament,' Harmony Thomas, an organizing official said.
The tournament's arrangement for young golfers has received a positive response from the Asian Tour.
'It's always encouraging to see our tournaments taking the initiative to develop the game of golf and create various platforms for improvement. I am confident sponsors and partners involved will start to see the fruits of their efforts and can be proud of their contribution to the development of golf in Indonesia,' Kyi Hla Han, chairman of the Asian Tour, said in a release.
Harsya said that defending champion Bernd Wiesberger and Thongcha Jaidee, the three-time Asian Tour Order of Merit winner, had confirmed participation in the 150-strong field.
'We are still awaiting other names and we will announce them soon,' he said.
The field is made of 96 Asian Tour players, 20 Indonesian pros, four amateurs, 15 players in the world's top 200 and 15 sponsors' exempts.
Three amateurs will be picked from a qualifying round prior to the tournament while the other amateur is expected to come from a tournament league.
'As many as 30 amateurs will play in a league. There will be four [league] tournaments before the CIMB,' said Harsya, who was accompanied by representatives of the tournament's sponsors.
The highest-ranked amateur between January and April 2014 will win a place at the CIMB Niaga Indonesian Masters 2014.
During the previous conference, the organizers also announced a charity initiative, in which a number of homes were built for needy families and together with state-owned oil and gas company, Pertamina, built a clean-water facility for over 10,000 people in Cimalaya, West Java.
