Singapore amateur golfers win women’s division title at International Pairs World Finals

SINGAPORE – It was the first time that Singapore was represented at the International Pairs World Finals since its inauguration 26 years ago, and amateur golfers Catherine Kwek and Maggie Koh rose to the occasion to win the women’s division title on Oct 3.

At the Golf del Sur in Spain’s Canary Islands, the duo became the first Asian pair to take home the women’s gold with a total net stableford score of 93 points after two rounds. They finished ahead of Italy’s Giulia Martinelli and Lorella Campi and South Africa’s Bonne Isaacson-Bamber and Jenifer Looi, with the latter two pairs on 69 points.

Over 100 golfers from 23 countries took part in the Sept 30 to Oct 4 World Final in Tenerife, with Brazil, Mexico, Singapore and Japan featuring in the tournament for the first time.

The tournament uses a stableford scoring system, which rather than counting the total number of strokes taken, involves scoring points based on the number of strokes taken at each hole.

Koh said: “On this day, we proved to the world that Singapore is capable of achieving success in international amateur golf despite our size, and I hope our win will inspire more women back home to play golf and participate in future events of the International Pairs.”

Having arrived in Tenerife at 2am on Sept 29 and with one practice round two days later, the best friends had little time to adjust to the surroundings in the Canary Islands.

But the duo, who is used to matchplay and play regularly for Warren Golf & Country Club in the Singapore Golf Association Inter-Club League, started strongly.

While Koh developed cramps from walking the course on the second day, she managed to pull through eventually.

They were unaware of their positions as they did not check the leaderboard, but Koh said they knew they “had it in the bag and just needed to bring it home” around the 15th hole.

Speaking after their final round, Kwek said: “I didn’t start well but Maggie saved us in the first few holes. After that, she told me to ‘wake up’ and go for it.

“At the turn to the back nine, we were going for broke, attacking every fairway and green; I played my usual consistent game and she went for every drive.”

Singapore’s amateur golfers also contested the open, women’s and mixed categories. The open division pair of Clinton Ang and Stephen King recorded a net score of 79 points and finished 11th out of 19, while Antonio Jo and Nina Um were fourth among six mixed pairs with a net score of 77.