Four bogeys did not prevent Nazri Zain from taking the first round lead of the Camry Cup when he knocked in six birdies for a two-under 70 and a slim one-shot lead at Forest City Golf Resort today.
The Kelantan-born lad, who has yet to miss a cut over the last seven events of the Toyota Tour, was very pleased with his game and attributed his performance to patience. “I’ve played mediocre so far this season but I feel like my game is slowly coming together,” he said.
Four players are bunched at one-under 71, including veterans Shaifubari Muda, Sukree Othman, Kenneth De Silva and Syakir Adli. Sukree was four-under at one point on his front nine, having carded four birdies. But he gave it away with three bogeys on his way home.
“Gosh, the course is playing tough,” said Sukree who teaches at the Kelab Golf Perkhidmatan Awam in Kuala Lumpur. “The course is long and it was very windy, forcing us to hit rescue woods and long irons onto the greens.
“The par 3 eighth hole was really tough today, at 247 yards and into the wind. I had to use driver and was just short of the green.” But Sukree, commonly known among his peers as the “short game specialist”, got up and down for a par and admitted that his short game helped him stay on track.
Shaifubari also agreed that the conditions were tough, especially when playing into the wind. “I think it’s a fantastic course, the layout is awesome and the fairways are in immaculate condition. Its like you’re hitting off a carpet. But for the short hitters it’s a real challenge.”
The course plays to a lengthy 7,386 yards but most of the pros felt like they were playing to more than 7,400 yards. Five players broke par but only one – Kenneth had a clean scorecard of no bogeys. His lone birdie came on the Par 4 ninth.
The Camry Cup is the eighth leg of the Toyota Tour that is organised by the PGM and delivered by MST Golf Group. The remaining legs are the Alphard Cup at Kota Seriemas Golf Club in two weeks, followed by the ADT Toyota Championship at Saujana GCC next month.
In the Ladies championship, amateur Ng Jing Xuen joined Geraldine Wong and Dianne Luke on top of the leaderboard when all three “survived” the wind to register one-over 73s. They carry a two-stroke advantage over Pang Hee Jie and Audrey Tan into the next round.
Order of Merit leader Aretha Pan wasn’t too pleased with her game and chalked up just a lone birdie on the par 4 17th. Her card was disfigured by five bogeys and a double for a six-over 78.
Leading Scores
Men
70 (-2) Nazri Zain
71 (-1) Sukree Othman, Syakir Adli, Kenneth De Silva, Shaifubari Muda
72 (Even) Daeng Abdul Rahman, Kemarol Baharin, Wafiyuddin Manaf, Izzat Safuan, Nor Harith Hadi
73 (+1) Faisal Sabudin, Kim Leun Kwang, Khor Kheng Hwai, Azry Asraf, Muhazim Bakhtiar
74 (+2) Loh Junyou, Nateeshvar Ganesh (am), Syady Sheikh, S. Siva Chandhran,
Ladies
73 (+1) Dianne Luke, Ng Jing Xuen (am), Geraldine Wong
75 (+3) Pang Hee Jie (am), Audrey Tan
76 (+4) Jocelyn Chee, Durriyah Damian
77 (+5) Michelle Koh
78 (+6) Aretha Pan