Enhanced Putra Cup Experience

Singapore: The battle for regional golfing supremacy is set to ignite again when the Southeast Asian Amateur Golf Team Championship returns to Singapore next month.

Supported by The R&A, the event which is also known as the Putra Cup, will feature teams from Brunei, Cambodia, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

Seletar Country Club will play host to the tournament from July 9-12.

Tan Chong Huat, President of the Singapore Golf Association and the ASEAN Golf Federation, said: “This year’s championship promises to enhance the overall spectatorship experience for everyone and we are looking forward to welcoming all players, officials and fans to Singapore.

“Apart from the action inside the ropes, it’ll be a digitally immersive experience with the event taking on a progressive stance that is driven by digital technology, sustainability, and security.

“The championship will also be open to the public as one of our objectives is to provide golf fans and the wider community with the opportunity to witness top-tier amateur golf up close, aiming to inspire a new generation of enthusiasts.”

The Putra Cup, initiated in 1961 by former Malaysian Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman, was created to foster closer ties among Southeast Asian nations and elevate the regional standard of golf.

Complementing this legacy, Singapore introduced the Lion City Cup in 2004 to recognise the region’s best male golfers under the age of 16, while Thailand started the Santi Cup in 2009 to feature the top female amateurs, followed by Indonesia with the Kartini Cup in 2013 to highlight junior girls under 16.

Singapore, which last won the tournament in 2019, will be banking on the likes of 2024 Kedah Amateur Open champion Brayden Lee, Chen Xingtong, and Ryan Ang and Aloysa Atienza, winners of their respective divisions at last month’s Kuala Lumpur Amateur Open.

Singapore’s title hopes will be tested by defending champions Indonesia, whose squad includes Randy Arbenata Mohamad Bintang and Rayhan Abdul Latief. The duo clinched the top two spots in the individual standings in Malaysia last year en route to helping end Indonesia’s 29-year Putra Cup title drought.

Thailand, a traditional powerhouse in the region, will be looking to reassert its dominance with the inclusion in their line-up of Jiradech Chaowarat, a member of the country’s gold medal-winning team at the Southeast Asian Games in Cambodia in 2023.