A league of their own
You're never too old to compete.
That's the mantra for golfers above the age of 55, who now have a competition to call their own.
The Singapore Senior Golfers Society (SSGS) yesterday announced the launch of the Singapore Senior League (SSL) 2014.
The league will comprise nine clubs and tee off on Feb 27 at the Keppel Club.
Eight country clubs around Singapore will play host to the SSL, with one tournament every month.
The nine golf clubs are the Singapore Island Country Club, Sentosa Golf Club, Raffles Country Club, Jurong Country Club, Seletar Country Club, Sembawang Country Club, Keppel Club, Changi Golf Club and the Singapore Senior Golfers Society.
STATISTICS
Dato Loh Ah Joo, president of the SSGS, which is running the league, said that the time is ripe for such an event.
"The statistics show that close to 50 per cent of golf club members fall in the senior bracket," he said.
"This is a chance for golfers over 55 to compete at their own level and make new friends on the course."
The SSL will be divided into three age categories: Cat A for ages 55-60, B for 61-65 and C 66 and above.
Each team must submit four entries per category. Monthly prizes will awarded to individuals after each tournament, in addition to an overall championship trophy at the end of the season.
SSGS team captain Terry Ng said the idea for a senior golfers' league had been floating about for three years.
Said Ng: "At the time, Bob Tan, president of the Singapore Golfers Association, suggested that we should organise such a league.
"It took a while, but finally, this is the end result. Numbers-wise, we have a ready market for this league."
Ng added that, according to SSGS' research, there are 13,000 senior golfers across the eight country clubs hosting the league.
The SSGS, which has over 600 members, has already roped in seven sponsors - five of them corporate - for the tournament.
SSGS committee member Alex Eow is hoping that the remaining five country clubs in Singapore join the SSL in the future.
"We actually have a pretty full schedule already," Eow said.
"The other five clubs have their own various reasons for not joining this year. Perhaps they are adopting a wait-and-see approach. Hopefully, by 2015, all 13 clubs will join us."
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