E

lected as chairman of the Indonesian Golf Association (PGI) for amateur golfing for the second time, businessman Murdaya Po has aimed to increase the sport’s popularity among youth and improve the achievements of the country’s golfers.

“There are many youngsters in countries like Japan, South Korea and Thailand who like to play golf and they manage to become top players,” Murdaya said in a statement.

Murdaya was reelected during the PGI national meeting in Surabaya, East Java last November and is to run the association until 2022.

For the new period, Murdaya is to prioritize creating an intensive training program for athletes and hold more competitions to give them experiences to hone their quality.

Ever since taking over the organization’s top seat in 2014, Murdaya has been pushing his athletes to improve their quality by providing proper training facilities and hiring top coaches, such as David Milne and Lawrie Montague from Australia.

Such methods are believed to have contributed to progressing the performance of several of the country’s golfers, including Naraajie Emerald Ramadhan Putra, who was once 52nd in world amateur golf ranking, and Ribka Vania.