Satisfying Saujana Success for Kim Min-su

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: The Korea Golf Association squad rounded off a highly successful two-week tournament expedition to Malaysia with another victory at the 35th Saujana Amateur Championship.

The country’s top-ranked player, Kim Min-su, fired rounds of 71, 68 and 70 at Saujana Golf & Country Club’s iconic Palm Course for a 54-hole aggregate of seven-under-par 209.

Shrugging off sporadic final-round rain delays, the 17-year-old took the title by three shots from Australian Josiah Edwards (69-70-73). Malaysian Aiden Kei was third on two-under 214 (71-70-73), lighting up the final round with a hole-in-one at the par-three 12th.

The previous week, Kim placed fourth in the men’s event of the Malaysian Amateur Open at Permaipura Golf & Country Club, having chalked up a runner-up finish the previous year at Sabah Golf & Country Club. At Permaipura, Kim's compatriots An Hae-cheon and Yang Yun-seo won the men’s and women's titles respectively.

At Saujana, An led the field with an opening 67, but fell back with subsequent rounds of 72 and 76. He finished joint fourth with another Korean, Park Jae-min, and Malaysian Anson Yeo.

“This time of the year is the off-season in Korea, so we appreciate the opportunity given by the Malaysian Golf Association and Saujana Golf & Country Club. I would also like to thank the Korea Golf Association for organising this trip to Malaysia. I was here last year for the Malaysian Amateur Open and came close to winning, so I’m very proud of myself for finally winning in Malaysia here at Saujana,” said Kim, who tied for seventh at this year’s Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship in Dubai and is currently 220th in the World Amateur Golf Ranking.

Ko Sang-won, the Korea Golf Association’s Director of Elite Development, noted that overseas tournament campaigns are an essential part of their development blueprint, especially in the winter months.

“The winter in Korea is quite severe and our season ends in late October, so it was quite lucky for me to arrange with the Malaysia Golf Association and Saujana to accept our boys and girls at their tournaments. It has been four or five years since we started coming here. My initial purpose was to create opportunities for the second tier of the national team, but as time went by, most of the first tier players also wanted to come here,” said Ko.

This year’s Saujana Amateur Championship saw more than 100 elite amateurs from 22 countries taking part. Inaugurated in 1988, the championship is one of the leading amateur events in the region.