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Almay upbeat for 39th RI Open golf tournament

Almay Rayhan Yaquta (JP/Ramadani Saputra Almay)The BRI Indonesia Open, one of two major golf tournaments in the country, evokes great memories among national golfers and fans

Ramadani Saputra (The Jakarta Post)
Jakarta
Mon, August 19, 2019

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Almay upbeat for 39th RI Open golf tournament

Almay Rayhan Yaquta (JP/Ramadani Saputra Almay)

The BRI Indonesia Open, one of two major golf tournaments in the country, evokes great memories among national golfers and fans.

Thirty years ago, Indonesian golfer Kasiadi won the tournament, an achievement that has not yet been surpassed by other national golfers.

With that memory in mind, one of the country’s favorites Almay Rayhan Yaquta is upbeat about repeating his senior’s success in the 39th edition, which will be held in Pondok Indah Golf Course in Jakarta from Aug. 29 to Sept. 1.

Almay said matching Kasiadi’s 1989 achievement would be a dream come true for him.

This year will be the third time for Almay, who still competes at the amateur level, to play at the Indonesia Open. His best achievement is finishing 5-under-par in the 2016 edition.

“Being able to compete at the Indonesia Open is very exciting. The preparation ahead of the tournament started at the beginning of this year as this is a major here,” he said Wednesday.

“I want to continue the legacy set by Pak Kasiadi,” he added.

In order to maintain his performance for the US$500,000 event, Almay is participating in two consecutive tournaments before the Indonesia Open.

This week, the 2015 ASEAN School Games gold medalist is competing in the Indonesian Amateur Open. Next week, he will take part in 2019 Ciputra Golfpreneur Tournament presented by Panasonic — which is part of the Asian Development Tour schedule.

“I will try to utilize the two tournaments ahead of the Indonesia Open to maintain my momentum, so I can reach the peak at the open,” he said.

Almay went on to say that competing in the Indonesia Open would not be easy as the Pondok Indah golf course offers a challenging environment. The last time he played on the course was back in 2018 during Indonesia’s Asian Games.

“I try to improve my mental game. Because I still find difficulty in maintaining it. For example, I play well [for several holes] but when I hit a bogey in the next hole, it [tends to] continue,” he said.

“My coaches also tell me that I should work on my focus,” he added.

Unfortunately, the 2019 BRI Indonesia Open will not see Justin Harding of South Africa defending the title. However, the 2019 SMBC Singapore Open winner and world number 56 Jazz Janewattananond of Thailand is expected to swing his club at Pondok Indah.

Indonesian Golf Association head Murdaya Po said the tournament would be a good chance for the country’s amateur golfers to compete alongside pro players and learn a thing or two from them.

Almay himself said he would not feel pressured competing alongside the pros as he did not want to burden himself with too ambitious a target. “I want to improve my record. Hopefully, I can equal or excel my best record here.”

The Indonesia Open will also act as a tryout for the national team ahead of the November’s Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in the Philippines.

The national team is still under the guidance of Australian coaches David Milner and Lawrie Montague who have accompanied the team since the Asian Games last year.

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