BRUNEI OPEN 2010

Faiz Damit will have to come up with something special if he wants to make the cut at today's Brunei Open.

The country's best golfer after the first round of the US$300,000 Asian Tour event, Faiz carded a five-over 76 to lie joint-128th in the field of 143 at The Empire Hotel & Country Club.

"I'm happy with my hitting today (Thursday) but had a couple of errors which I think is all part of the learning process," said the second local to turn professional.

"I hit the fairways on both par 5s (12th and 15th holes) and I made bogey on both, and that is not acceptable at this level. On hole seven I pushed it right and it went to the hazard so I had a double bogey on par three," he added yesterday.

His only birdie came on the second hole and he admitted it was his day's best memory at the Jack Nicklaus-designed par-71 course.

"My highlight must have been hole two when I almost sunk it in from 120 metres I was just 15cm away. It's good conditions but it's wet and it's playing a bit longer so there is more roll and stuff," added Faiz, who said he would be using a different set-up on his putter.

He was followed by Qawin Aslimon and Brunei permanent resident James Lam with 78, while professional Ak Wirahadi Kesuma Pg Md Salleh and Muhammad Hariz Hasim were four strokes behind on 80. 

Brunei's first golfer to turn pro Pg S Hassanal Al-Haj PPN PG Hj Omar came in at 81 while Sanjok Moktan and Khairul Kamis rounded out the field of 143 golfers with 82.

The trio of Muhammad Hariz, 20, Khairul, 19, and Qawin, 17, are promising juniors who were given spots to play in the sixth edition of the Brunei Open as amateurs.

Qawin and Khairul were among the five golfers who represented Brunei at the recent 2nd Asean School Games in Kuala Lumpur.

Despite being the youngest of the three, Qawin showed his potential by emerging with the best score.

Birdies on the second and 11th holes helped him along the way in the biggest tournament of his life.

"I am happy with my score. At least it's not so bad," smiled the 19-year-old Sports School student.

"I feel happy playing here but I was also nervous since it was my first time playing in an event like this. Making the cut would be a hard target so I am aiming for at least bettering my score today (Thursday). 

"I learned a lot from the professionals; things like how to set up for a second shot and how to measure the distance.

"I'm impressed with how Danny Chia, Mardan Mamat and Terry Pilkadaris are playing. Lot of others too, but I don't know their names," he grinned.

Lam, a Filipino who has grown up in the Sultanate, was less ecstatic.

"Am I happy? Hell no!" he exclaimed.

"I grew up here so this is one event I'd like to do well in. 

"I started on the back nine and had a really good birdie chance at hole one but I missed it. I started having misses right and left and it was hard for me to play the round the way I wanted to. It was pretty tough. It was good conditions but really hot. 

"It was not really windy and that should have worked to my advantage but ... I hope I can do better tomorrow," added the 22-year-old golfer.

His first Asian Tour event, Lam has played a few local events in the Philippines and one Asean event (Mercedes-Benz Tour). They don't measure up with rubbing shoulders with some of Asia's finest though.

"It is nothing compared to this," admitted the young golfer.

"The plan tomorrow (today) is to hit as much fairway as I can, keep the ball in play and hit more greens. My target is a 65 to make the cut and hopefully tomorrow will be one of those times when my best rounds will come out," he added.

The Brunei Times