JGTA Tournament Jumpstarts Golf Tourism

The stunning Els Club Desaru Coast once again played host to the 4th edition of the Tourism Johor Golf Tournament 2021 for the Tunku Panglima Johor Challenge Trophy on 27 November 2021. A total of 166 golfers participated in the tournament organised by Johor Golf Tourism Association (JGTA) and supported by Tourism Johor and Tourism Malaysia.

To benefit the Tunku Laksamana Johor Cancer Foundation, RM1,121,500 was raised and Col. Mohd Jamal Salleh, President of JGTA presented the ceremonial cheque to His Highness Tunku Abu Bakar Alhaj ibni Sultan Ibrahim, Tunku Putera Johor on behalf of the foundation.

Marking a historical moment, His Majesty Sultan Ibrahim ibni Almarhum Sultan Iskandar graced the royal luncheon and prize presentation attended by about 220 participants, partners, sponsors and dignitaries.

One of the most coveted golf events in the country with growing followership each year, this year’s tournament was held at the championship Valley Course (Championship Category) and the highly-rated Ocean Course (Open Category). Once again, His Highness Tunku Putera Johor graced the event by playing the Ocean Course.

Col. Mohd Jamal Salleh, the president of Johor Golf Tourism Association said, “There are no words to describe how deeply blessed we feel to be given this privilege to host the fourth edition of this tournament at an exquisite golf course and setting a new record with an unprecedented number of 166 participants coming from many parts of the country, particularly Johor, including international golfers from the UK, Belgium, Japan, Korea and Indonesia.”

Col. Jamal further said, “After months of lockdown and MCO, it is JGTA’s hope to see that this tournament will jumpstart the golf industry and bring back the glorious days of golf tourism to Johor Darul Ta’zim. JGTA hopes that this prestigious tournament will make a great headway to 2022 and expedite the road to recovery for our tourism industry. We observed from the strong support and participation from 166 golfers the golf tourism industry in Johor Darul Ta’zim looks very promising and we wish to see more tournaments that are able to attract participation not only from within Johor but more so from other parts of the country”.

Aside from 8 prizes for Holes-in-one at both courses, there were friendly novelty competitions for Nearest-the-Pin and Nearest-the-Line sponsored by MST Golf.

Adding to the excitement further was the “On-the-Green” Challenge at Hole #2 Lakes Ocean Course and Hole #17 Valley Course that saw more than 40 participants winning accommodation vouchers.

Besides the main tournament prizes of the top three gross and top three nett in both the Championship Category and Open Category, the overall gross champion from the Championship Category at Valley Course walked away with the exquisite Tunku Panglima Johor Challenge Trophy.