For aspiring golfers who wouldn’t make the cut as professionals or top amateurs, the opportunity to join and compete in a local, regional or global amateur golf league can be rewarding - not just for the glory, bragging rights or trophies if victorious, but also for the chance to network with other golfers and represent their company, club or country.
The largest amateur championship is the World Golfers Championship (WGC), an annual tournament open to everyone with a registered handicap.
WGC now has 40 countries participating, around 10 of those in Asia. WGC Singapore’s Sazali Bava believes the number will go up, with Japan planning to join next year, in addition to Morocco and Mauritius.
The WGC is a real chance to represent your country playing at your own particular skill level. You don’t have to be a single handicapper.
Each country holds its own national championship, and the winners from five handicap flights (0-5, 6-10, 11-15, 16-20 and 21-25) meet at the world finals and represent their country as a team or as individuals within their flights.
This part of the world has performed well, with the Singapore team winning the team event in Orlando, Florida, in 2008; Indonesia won it the following year in Marbella, Spain; Thailand won in 2011, and Malaysia, last year in Durban, South Africa.
Singapore, like many other countries, has a host of other amateur leagues and golfing “legs” in its busy golfing calendar. For example, there is the Business Times Corporate Golf League, which is into its fourth year and provides a platform for companies to enhance their relationship with partners and clients, and network with industry professionals in addition to engaging in a few friendly rounds of golf.
Then there is the BMW Golf Cup International which, with 100,000 participants around the world, is one of the world’s largest international tournament series for amateurs.
Now, another league is set to make its debut here next month: The Team Golf League (TGL, part of Touché Golf), originated in Bangalore in India in March 2010, and was known as Touché Golf Gang Wars. The format is a mixture of Strokeplay and Matchplay.
Vittal Narayan, the general manager of Touché Golf, said: “The war concept is evident in the terms used to describe the various rounds played by the participating gangs - Infantry, Cavalry and Gladiator. The concept was created when we looked around and realised that a lot of regular golfers tend to play with the same group of friends weekly. We wondered who would win if we pitted one group or gang against the other... and TGL was born.”
The first tournament in Bangalore had 336 participants; last year, TGL pulled in more than 1,500 participants across India.
Mr Narayan said: “We intend to expand those numbers and make our foray into Asia. As much as golf is an individual sport, the team dynamic is highly sought after. Golfers are excited to play for themselves, but they are passionate when they have to play for someone else especially when that someone else is a close friend.”
He said Singapore has been divided into eight zones or citadels, each with 10 gangs. These 10 gangs will compete together on their chosen date and time in a strokeplay format called the Infantry Round.
The lowest-scoring team in each citadel qualify for the National Finals round, also called the Cavalry Round. The eight qualifying gangs will then compete against each other in a mixed three-way Matchplay format to determine the winning team.
Each team will have its eight members seeded by their handicap or performance. They are then grouped with their corresponding seeds from three randomly selected gangs from among the other seven gangs. Three individual Matchplay rounds thus happen simultaneously. The team that finishes the day with the most number of points wins.
Malaysia and Thailand will make their debut in this league; these two countries, with Singapore, will have up to 80 gangs each. To date, 20 have signed up in Singapore.
The rounds will be played at Raffles Country Club, and there is no entrance fee. There has been none since the first TGL event in 2010, a feature golfers appreciate. Mr Narayan said the event is thus funded through sponsorship; companies that have offered support have been given the opportunity to promote their products among the participants.
“This support has largely helped in funding the event and has been a source of income for us to continue expanding this concept as far and wide as we can,” he said.
As to whether the league will now expand beyond India and the three South-East Asian countries, he said: “Gol is such a universally loved game that there is always scope for expansion. If there is golf in a country, we feel that we can host this event there, and I do hope in the not-too-distant future, we will be talking about TGL on the worldwide stage.”
Rohan Puri has taken part in all three editions of TGL in India so far and represents a gang called Pin High, which won the Bangalore Citadel of TGL in the past two years.
An avid golfer since his early teens, he said TGL piqued his interest because of the uniqueness of its format. “As a golfer, I love playing team-based events, and most of them are usually teams of two. Here, we have an event that brought together a larger group of friends to compete as one. It reminds me of the Ryder Cup, and I play with a group of guys who love the game and we are very excited to participate.”
He added that he enjoys the competition that takes place on the course and the fellowship off it, and has made friends among golfers from across the country.
“In addition, this is the only event that brings out a competitive drive in me that I haven’t felt since I was kid,” he said.
He said he likes the idea of expanding the TGL network beyond India: “Touché Golf has made a huge contribution to Indian golf by conceptualising and running TGL. I think it is an event that should be experienced by as many golfers as possible. I think golfers will love the experience, and honestly.... the more the merrier.”
Caption: WE DID IT! The team Willy Warriors from Mumbai were the champions of the Team Golf League in India in 2011
Those looking to sign up for the Team Golf League here, go to www.teamgolfleague.com or email matthew@championsgolf.com.sg for information. Registration deadline is May 31.
