From the Head of PE & Sport, 16.03.19

FOBISIA Golf 2019: Hua Hin, Thailand

They say the early bird catches the worm, but it was a flight that the KIS Vipers Golf Team were catching in the early hours of Monday morning. The team were traveling to Hua Hin for the seond year in a row to test their skills against some of the best junior golfers in Asia at the 2019 FOBISIA Golf Championships hosted by Shrewsbury International School.

Flying into Hua Hin from KL saved the team a long bus ride through Bangkok traffic and meant they were able to hit the course for their practice round in the afternoon, following an energising sampling of the Thai buffet at lunch. The facilities available at Black Mountain Golf Resort are of a world class standard and the players are truly privileged to have the opportunity to test their golfing skills on such a high-quality course.

It was quickly apparent on the practice round that the Black Mountain course was very different to the courses in KK that the KIS Team were used to. The most notable challenge were the fast greens requiring a soft touch if you didn’t want to be pushing your ball past the hole and see it continue rolling down the slope.

The team made their way around the 18 holes together; taking advise from the local caddies and trying to familiarise themselves as much as they could of points to watch out for and identifying some holes where maybe some calculated risks could be taken.

The sun was dropping behind the surrounding hills when the team finally stepped off the course after a very beneficial practice round and went straight to the welcome dinner in the clubhouse. It was certainly a long first day for the team as they finally got into their rooms in the villas at 8:30pm after having been up since before 3:00am!

Tuesday saw the first day of competition open with brilliant sunshine and temperatures climbing quickly as the first groups teed off just after 8:00am. Tim and Ben led the way at the front with Ben putting in a very solid performance on the first day, finishing the 1st round in 3rd place with a +2 gross score and 1st place on the Stableford Nett scoring system. Angelina started the tournament hotter than the scorching temperatures in Hua Hin, finishing the front 9 at +4. Despite dropping a few extra shots coming home on the back 9, she still succeeded in finishing the round in 6th place on gross score and 2nd place Stableford Nett.

Nicholas came back strong in his last 9 holes to finish with a score of 107 while Liam shot a 109, both very impressive scores on a difficult course in their first FOBISIA (and international) golf tournament.

On Wednesday, the second round started off even hotter as players set off in groups based on their scores and positions from Round 1. Recent tournament practice in the MSSD and MSSS Golf championships proved very valuable as players had had recent experience at playing back to back rounds in competitive circumstances. Ben was playing in the top group and after dropping a few shots on the opening holes, removed his sleeves resulting in a change of ‘luck’ as he birdied the next hole and a few others throughout the round. Chanel was last out on the course for the day and after a very focussed warm-up and preparation she performed very well on the front 9 and improved her first round score by a few shots.

The ‘most improved’ awards in the group went to Liam and Caleb who both made impressive improvements in Round 2. Caleb shooting 15 shots less with a 91!

Tim, having taken out a few prizes at the last 2 FOBISIA events, was unfortunately not having his best tournament but was still an excellent role model for the younger students throughout the competition.

Overall, it was a wonderful few days of sport to witness and I am confident that all players leant a lot, not only about the sport, but also themselves and how to handle competition both in good and difficult times.

From the players:

“Getting to play on a high quality golf course with other top players was really good. We found the green speed very fast and challenging but it boosted our confidence when we learnt from our mistakes.” – Caleb and Angelina

“It was interesting and fun at the same time. I enjoyed meeting new people and seeing how they play and maybe trying new things.” – Liam

“It was my first year going to FOBISIA Golf and hopefully it won’t be my last because it was a beautiful course and I enjoyed playing to the best of my ability.” – Nicholas

“While I didn’t play my greatest golf, I had a wonderful time. I had a great team that played along side of me and I hope next year there will be even more people going. I was very happy with 8 Birdies on a tough course.” – Ben

A special mention needs to go to Fraser Pook for the many hours of professional training and guidance he has provided to all the team members in preparing them for the event. Fraser has worked with KIS students in delivering lessons from beginners in SNAG golf to our competitive FOBISIA teams for a number of years now. This was the third year KIS has sent students to the FOBISIA Golf Championship and it was encouraging to see new players attend with numbers increased from previous years. We certainly hope to see these numbers continue to grow in coming years.

Unfortunately, due to holidays, Fraser will be suspending both SNAG and FOBISIA Golf sessions during Term 3 ECAs. However, if you have any interest in having your child get started in golf or would like additional coaching to help them develop further, then please contact Fraser on 0102639898.

A big thank you to all the parents who accompanied the team to Hua Hin for all your support throughout the tournament.

Finally, a huge CONGRATULATIONS to the KIS Vipers Golf Team who did themselves, their parents and KIS so proud with their wonderful efforts and achievements.: Caleb (5S), Liam (7S), Nicholas (7S), Ben (8K), Angelina (9K), Chanel (9S) and Tim (9S)

Results:

MSSS News

Golf

In last week’s newsletter we were still waiting for the final scores from the MSSS Golf Tournament taking place just next to KIS at the Sabah Golf and Country Club. Below are the final results and placings for all students.

Both Tim and Ben succeeded in qualifying for the MSSM Tournament (Malaysian Nationals) but unfortunately will be unable to take part due to a clash with a prior golfing commitment. Well done to all players!

Tennis

MSSS Tennis was held at Likas from 11th-13th March and 3 students; Iden (8K), Amar (11SK) and Ethan (11S) were put to the test against the best players across Sabah.

In the U18 Boys Category, Amar and Ethan both started incredibly strongly in the round robin stages of the competition. After winning his first two rounds, Ethan had the top seed as his final match which he unfortunately lost. Amar then had the task of facing the same opponent in the semi-finals but was also unable to find a way through to victory losing 2-8.

In the U15 Boys, Iden had a spectacular doubles tournament winning all his matches with his partner to take out the Doubles title of the championship.

Simply reaching a state competition is an achievement. However, all three KIS students proved themselves to be extremely talented tennis players with their noteworthy successes. Congratulations boys!

Miss Catriona Watt
Head of PE and Sport