On Friday 30th October, 72 golfers from 12 different schools arrived at Pattana Golf Resort for 3 days of stroke play competition in the opening Faldo series event of the year. The Faldo series named after the series creator and former world number 1 Nick Faldo and organised by his son, himself a former Wellingtonian, Matthew Faldo, has become one of the leading events for identifying future golfing talent. Events are held in Europe, North America and Asia, with former winners including Ryder Cup star and major winner Rory McIlroy, Solheim Cup star Melissa Reid and the youngest player ever, male or female, to win five major championships Yani Tseng. This Faldo series event managed by Fore Management and hosted by Wellington College Bangkok was the first of three Faldo series events this year and highlights the great depth of talent for golf in Thailand and how seriously it is taken by us as a school.
Wellington had 6 golfers competing in the U11 and U13 categories, Tawan, Dew, Kaka, Nokyoong, Ekky and Gam. The Faldo series crowns winners for gross scores with players recording their score without any allowance for handicap. With this in mind, it was particularly pleasing to see our golfers be so competitive. Nokyoong won the U11 girls section, with Dew taking third place in the U11 boys and Gam also third in the U13 girls event. Some of the scores recorded were particularly impressive, with special mention for Dew, who coming into the event had never shot lower than 90. He proceeded to record two scores in the 80’s and a 77 on the Saturday, day 2 of the event. The standard across the whole event was of the highest order and undoubtedly there were future Asian, European and US PGA stars on show. To highlight the point, the winner of the boys U16 category recorded a very impressive 3 under par for the three rounds played.
This event also formed part of the International Schools’ Golf Tour (ISGT); 12 events played monthly by the international schools of Thailand, in individual and team competition. Coming into the event Wellington sat a credible 9th in the standings but an excellent 5th place finish as a team in this event, with Faldo series points counting double, has propelled Wellington College up the leaderboard. We continue to invest heavily in the resources and facilities for golf, with a state of the art swing room, golf course located right next to our school, our partnership with Fore Management and a full time British PGA professional based at Wellington. As one of our 5 focus sports, we are starting to see the benefit of this investment with growing numbers of players in the various squads and excellent results on the course.
Every player who has represented the school this year so far has seen their playing handicap reduced, with one player’s handicap currently 15 strokes better than it was before the first event held in October. 54 holes over 3 days was a grueling test, particularly with poor weather to battle on the Sunday morning. It was therefore very pleasing to see such resilience and perseverance from all our players to battle through inclement conditions. And unlike Sunday’s weather, the future is certainly bright for the continued development of golf at Wellington College International School Bangkok.
In the proud tradition of Wellington College in the UK, Wellington College Bangkok is developing one of the most exciting Golf Programmes for junior golfers in Thailand. To find out more about how your child may benefit from our innovative approach to golf coaching, contact our admissions team today to arrange a tour of our campus and facilities. [email protected]
Mr Jon Fudge, Director of Sport, Wellington College International School Bangkok.
