Orchid CC’s Allen Gong shoots 73 to help his team move up ST & BT Corporate Golf League

SINGAPORE – A barrier mark was crossed in the third leg of The Straits Times & Business Times Corporate Golf League at Sentosa Golf Club’s Tanjong Course on April 10.

The organisers’ decision to impose a cut-off for individual points to bring normality to the competition made sense, as Orchid Country Club’s (OCC) ace player Allen Gong bagged 41 points for individual honours.

Gong, 37, who is in the real estate business, shot five birdies in his round of 73, but had to shed a point because of the 40-point cut-off.

Still, it gave him the day’s individual title and helped the defending champions to the team crown, with Zach Chia on 38 points, and 36 for Charissa Goh and Chelsea Chen.

OCC’s quartet collected 114 points for the team to take them to second spot from joint-fourth with a total of 322, seven points behind overnight leaders Hugo Boss.

Gong (handicap 8.5) attributed the day’s best round of one over (his best ever was a 70 at Laguna Masters) to being “lucky with some putts”.

He said: “For example, on the par-three 185-metre seventh hole, I sank a near 40-foot putt after finding the green with a six-iron.”

Gong, who also won the Longest Drive contest with 239m, added: “Lately I have been driving well. Also, my wedge shots and putting have improved greatly.”

The Laguna National club member, who plays twice a week, said: “I need to work on my long irons and chipping to be a good all-round golfer.”

Former winners Hugo Boss, led by their ace player William Tay (39 points on gross 79), totalled 113 points for a massive 329 total on a hot and humid day.

He was ably supported by Francis Wan, Andre Huber and Steven Lee, all on 37 points.

Singapore Global Trust moved up a spot with 111 points for a 319 total.

Their star player Winson Oh led the charge with 38 points (gross 78) buoyed by five birdies.

Joey Chang (37 points) and Charles Tan (36) contributed to the impressive total.

Team Croesus remain rooted in seventh position – second last – but the sporting team are in “seventh heaven”.

They may be in the competitive category of the event, but their players are not focused on winning the title.

Their team captain Jeremy Yong said: “I know what the Corporate League is all about, having played for the Citibank team in some past years.

“I entered a team this time to give my clients and customers an opportunity to network and at the same time reward them for their loyalty to the company.

“I registered the maximum of 16 players for the five legs so that everyone can get the chance to play at least one leg.

“For the next leg, I’m inviting four Japanese customers to play and I will play the last leg at the Singapore Island Country Club (SICC).”

Yong, who plays off a 13 handicap, is a member of the SICC.

He is co-founder of Croesus, an investment holding company with interests in asset management and real estate.

On April 10, the Croesus team did a decent job of amassing 103 points from their top-three finishers in the modified stableford-system format.

With two legs remaining they have a total of 297 points, just three points behind CLA Global TS but a huge 32 points behind leaders Hugo Boss.

Mitsubishi Electric scored a double in the social section, with Jonathan Ng winning the individual honours with 36 points and helping Lim Han Ren, Ke Yam Cheong and Michael Ng to the team title.

The fourth leg will be held at OCC on April 23.