ACS (I) student stays calm and cool to clinch Match Play title
Armed with the National Ranking Game title for which he came from a seven-shot deficit to win by three shots, Bruce Kwong, whose personal best of five-under 67 did the trick, was the name on most participants’ lips.
And the disciplined 14-year-old Anglo- Chinese School (Independent) student delivered in an exciting manner to claim the Tanah Merah Country Club’s Match Play men’s title at the Tampines course.
Bruce beat a polished Ken Sugino, but not in the easiest of manners in the final. The teenager needed to win on the 20th hole play-off for the popular title.
Said the respectful Bruce, who plays and practices between four and six times a week in between studies and other commitments, edged out the game Sugino, a good all-round golfer.
As he recounted: “The final match against Ken, which went into a play- off, was a tough match, but I managed to play well and never trailed. I was extremely pleased with that as Ken is a great player.
“The play-off was intense from the start. Both of us found the green in two in the first play-off hole. Ken missed a birdie putt which left me to take advantage. “But I could not do it, so we carried on to the second hole, a tough and long par-four.
“Here, Ken found the greenside bunker with his second shot, and I hit my 145-metre approach to about 20 feet from the pin.
“Ken then made bogey and I two-putted for a decent par that proved to be the winner.”
In the semi-finals, Bruce had the better of a gutsy Samir Bedi, who has won a few titles over the past few years. He said: “I definitely faced my set of challenges against Samir but I handled them really well.
“I was one down until the seventh hole, on which I made birdie to tie the match. From then on, I did not trail again, winning holes 10 and 14 for a two-hole advantage.
“But on the 17th hole, Samir reduced the lead to one. But on the 18th, there was some pressure on me but I stayed calm and edged out Samir with a birdie from 10 feet to seal the deal.”
An elated Bruce, who picked up the game at 3 but became serious only at 8, celebrated the victory with a grand dinner with his family.
RESULTS:
Round 1:
Masaru Hamada bt Timothy John Pinneger 3 & 2, Samir Bedi bt Stanley Ang 4 & 2, Bruce Kwong bt Jerry Yong 5 & 3, Jeffry Ho w/o Nick Yeow, Rex Tan bt Lim Chiang Wei 2 & 1, Ryusei Kuroiwa bt Justyn Adam Jagger 2 & 1, Ken Sugino bt Kosho Hagino 6 & 5, Tsuyoshi Kuroiwa bt Liu Wei Guo 2 & 1.
Quarter-finals:
Quarter-finals:
Samir Bedi bt Masaru Hamada 20th hole in play-off, Bruce Kwong bt Jeffry Ho 4 & 3, Ryusei Kuroiwa bt Rex Tan 6 & 5, Ken Sugino bt Tsuyoshi Kuroiwa 2 & 1.
Semi-finals:
Bruce Kwong bt Samir Bedi 1-up, Ken Sugino bt Ryusei Kuroiwa 5 & 4.
Final:
Bruce Kwong bt Ken Sugino 20th hole play-off.
