Maniam drives off with an Audi
First hole-in-one and amateur player makes off with a brand new A3 TFSI quattro
THE sixth staging of the Audi quattro Cup tournament culminated in a thrilling finale at the Palm Garden Golf Club in Putrajaya where S.P. Maniam won a car for a hole-in-one and Aidi Ahmad and Shahril Jusoh claimed victory and are off to Barcelona.
Aidi and Shahril took the honours in this two-man team tournament with a total of 44 Stableford points. Crowned the champions with their commanding performance, the winning pair not only won the Champions Trophy, golf equipment from TaylorMade and luggage from TUMI, but also an all-expenses paid trip to the world-famous Real Club de Golf El Prat in Barcelona, to represent Malaysia at the Audi quattro Cup World Final from Oct 9-10.
They were not the only winners at the tournament as for the first time in the event itself in Malaysia, Maniam hit the perfect shot at Hole No. 7 and won an Audi A3 1.8 TFSI quattro worth RM239,900.
Audi Malaysia sales director Sridheevan (Dave) Sivanantham said: “This Audi quattro Cup has been a thrilling competition from start to finish and I am immensely proud to see the level of participation and contestants continue to improve year-on-year.
“I am also very happy for all the champions, Aidi Ahmad and Shahril Jusoh, who I’m sure will do us proud in Barcelona as well as the hole-in-one winner, S.P. Maniam, who has certainly displayed the power and precision necessary to secure such a fantastic prize. Truly, Malaysia Boleh!”
The 80 amateur players in the Audi quattro Cup Malaysia final qualified from two rounds hosted in late August at Kota Permai Golf & Country Club.
The triumphant duo of Aidi and Shahril started off strongly, registering three birdies early on that gave them cushion to hold off their competition by the narrowest of margins (just one point) – they finished with a double-bogey.
Speaking after the prize presentation ceremony Aidi said: “I have participated in the Audi quattro Cup for three years in a row, also making it to the Malaysia finals last year, but I really did not expect to win in this extremely tough competition.
“It has truly been a challenge for Shahril and I to play against such a strong field of seasoned golfers and we are really happy to have won and are proud to represent Malaysia in Barcelona, where we will give it our best shot and try to bring home the trophy.”
Meanwhike, Maniam said: “I’ve been playing golf for 15 years, and I’ve never once scored a hole-in-one before today so you could say that I picked the right time to do so.
“I’ve only dreamed about it (hitting a hole-in-one) and I joked with my friends this morning, telling them that I’ll get one today.
“I am very excited to have won the Audi A3 1.8 TFSI quattro and you can be sure that I’ll be participating in next year’s Audi quattro Cup again.”
RSULTS – Audi quattro Cup
1 Aidi Ahmad & Shahril Jusoh 44pts. 2 Tan Wah Yew & Arumugasamy Sambanthamoorthy 43. 3 Ghanesh Periasamy & Rathakrishnan Arumugam 41
Novelty Prizes
Hole-in-One – Audi A3 Sedan 1.8 FTSI Quattro: SP Maniam. Leica Longest Drive: SP Maniam (243m) Maybank Nearest-to-Line: Ghanesh Periasamy (on-the-line). Truefitt & Hill Nearest-to-Pin: Ng Choong Moon (5ft). Audi R8 Driving Experience in Neuburg, Germany: Mychelle Tai & Hairil Ibrahim. Hugo Boss Longest Drive: Liew Wai Chuan (285m).