Most of Singapore’s longest hitters turned up to battle it out at the inaugural SGA Long Drive Challenge held in conjunction with the Discover Golf Carnival. Male and female amateur golfers vied for the coveted title of Singapore’s Long Drive Champion in 3 separate categories, the Junior Amateur (18 years and under), the Mid-Amateur (19 to 49 years) and the Senior Amateur (50 years and above).
In the qualifying round, participants attempted to hit their longest tee shots measured off golf launch monitors at the driving range of the Sentosa Golf Club. Each participant was allowed 3 tee shots for each attempt, with a maximum of 6 tee shots allowed in the qualifying round. The top 5 longest hitters in each category qualified for the final round where they had 4 minutes to hit 5 balls. The excitement was palpable as finalists tried to outdrive one another with adrenalin-charged swings to take home this much-coveted title.
Supporters and onlookers were awed by the stiff competition in the finals with the narrowest margin of victory in the Girls Junior Amateur Category. 16-year-old Shang Yu outdrove 13-year-old Angel by a mere 0.1m to take home the title with her 223.4m drive.
17-year-old Andre Chong who plays off a zero handicap walked away with the Boys Junior Amateur title with his massive 324.3m drive. The Development Squad player’s drive was the longest drive measured for the day across all categories. When asked about his strategy for the challenge, Andre said, “Actually I don’t normally hit those distances. I usually hit it about 280m, but today I just tried to give it a bit more by hitting really big hooks for more hang time and roll.”
He also talked about the importance of his fitness regimen and how it helped him hit it longer saying, “I have been spending a lot of time in the gym, trying to get stronger. I can see that it has paid off. I have gained about 20 metres off the tee. I feel stronger and I don’t feel as tired now even after playing many rounds of golf during the week.”
Andre who recently won the 2018 SICC/DBS Junior Invitational Golf Championship also went on to share that distance isn’t everything. “Just because I can hit the ball far doesn’t mean that I am guaranteed to score well. I still need to work on my short iron and wedges to do well.”
20-year-old Callista Chen, one of Singapore’s top ranking female amateurs, hit the longest drive by a female, recording a 239.3m tee shot in the final. Although this was a few metres short of her best drive in the qualifying round, the drive was good enough to secure her the win in the Ladies’ Mid–Amateur Category. “It’s definitely an honour to win this title. In the final round I was trying to be relaxed, reminding myself to just turn through the shot and give it my best hit.”
Like Andre, Callista credits her prodigious length off the tee to her fitness regimen over the years saying, “Our junior program implemented a lot of fitness training to improve agility, strength and stability. We did a lot of sprinting, planks and medicine ball throwing and even boxing at one point. I didn’t understand it back then, but as I got older I realized that these fitness games and activities helped me gain physical strength and increased my club head speed.”
In the Senior Amateur Category, the Men’s and Women’s titles were won by a married couple, Dr Jiten Sen and Mrs Lyn Sen. Mrs Sen, the current Vice President of the Singapore Golf Association and President of the Singapore Ladies Golf Association, hit her longest drive 201.9m, 15.6m ahead of the nearest contender in her category. She said, “With so many squad members watching, I just focused on making a good swing and not embarrass myself. I was shaking and tried hard not to show my nervousness. It was a personal target to drive past 200m and I’m very happy that I did.”
Dr Jiten Sen received top honours in the Men’s Senior Amateur Category with a commendable 259.8m tee shot. Mrs Sen joked about the surprise win saying, “Jiten took part to support the event and was surprised to have life in the old dog yet.”
“The best part was being in the final with one his closest friends Ivan Hoyes. They both haven’t had so much fun in years. They just wanted to beat each other for bragging rights. I am very much looking forward to the next long drive contest and will bring more friends down for some fun.”
Scott Roberts, a 50-year old amputee, also participated in the Men’s Senior Amateur Category finishing 2nd runner-up. The inspiring golfer who lost his leg in a motorbike accident in his 30s, shared about what it is like to play golf with a prosthetic leg. He said, “The amputation has changed a lot of the way I play golf but I still enjoy it. It’s great to go out and do sports as an amputee. I’ve had to learn to try to not hit the ball too hard as I have trouble getting momentum through the hips with the (prosthetic) leg restricting the movement in my body. I backed off hitting the ball too hard and now I hit the ball better and straighter. I actually play better golf now as an amputee than when I was an able-bodied person because I learned to have more control over the ball.”
The long drive champions in their respective categories each walked away with a new TaylorMade Driver fitted for them with the TaylorMade experience.
RESULTS OF THE SGA LONG DRIVE CHALLENGE 2019
Boys Junior Amateur
Winner
ANDRE CHONG (324.3m)
1st Runner Up
BRANDON HAN (311.4m)
2nd Runner up
SEAN LEE (296.9m)
Girls Junior Amateur
Winner
SHANG YU (223.4m)
1st Runner Up
ANGEL LIM (223.3m)
2nd Runner Up
MAYA CALA (217.5m)
Men’s Senior Amateur
Winner
JITEN SEN (259.8m)
1st Runner Up
IVAN HOYES (247.6m)
2nd Runner up
SCOTT ROBERTS (174.4m)
Women’s Senior Amateur
Winner
LYN SEN (201.9m)
1st Runner Up
EMILY LEE (186.3m)
2nd Runner Up
BELINDA YOUNG (176.9m)
Mens Mid Amateur
Winner
LOW WEE JIN (304.8m)
1st Runner Up
ERWYN LAM (302.3m)
2nd Runner Up
LUCIUS TOH (300.4m)
Women’s Mid Amateur
Winner
CALLISTA CHEN (239.3m)
1st Runner Up
CLARA ANG (218.4m)