Cambodian pair grab stylish victory….
The 4th edition of the popular Angkor Fourball Championship was another huge hit. The pairs event attracted 116 players representing 14 countries worldwide. The award-winning Faldo layout is arguably one of the finest courses in SE Asia and is well suited to the pairs format. The strategic layout dishes out numerous challenges but the composite set-up of Blue & White tee’s presents the teams with several risk or reward holes.
This year produced record scoring and after day 1 the event was wide open. In the gross division, defending champions Neville Hogan & Zak Hasting were in a tie for the lead on -5 with Sebastien Sawtell & Gary Brookes. Just 1 stroke behind on -4 the Cambodian pairings of Im Reahul & Chhhin Chansangha and Ly Hong & Tan Savun. A further 4 teams were also well in contention.
What a difference a day makes!
Overnight leaders Neville Hogan & Zak Hasting and Sebastien Sawtell & Gary Brookes struggled to build on their overnight lead, posting rounds of 69 (-3) and 71 (-1) respectively. In years gone by this may have been enough, if not for the phenomenal form of leading Cambodian players; Im Reahul & Chhin Changsangha who charged through the field posting 9 birdies with no dropped shots in a memorable final round performance. The pair raced out of the blocks making birdies on holes 2,5,6,7,8 to open up a lead at the turn. Past Champions Amish Jaitha and Khusaal Thakersey were also making a charge, closing with a final round 65 (-7). However, the local pairing held their nerve and posted a further 4 birdies on the back 9 to post a stunning final round score of 63 (-9).
Net Champions:
The net division was an equally close and competitive affair. The top 10 teams were all within 5 strokes of each other after 36 holes. The eventual winners were Lewis Hood & John Palumbo with rounds of 65 & 64(-15) to claim victory by 2 shots from the female pairing of Mychelle Tai & Lim Pai Ling who closed with an excellent final round of 61 (-11). 3rd place went to local stalwarts Ly Hong and Tan Savun with a 36-hole total of 132 (-12). Thomas Woolsey and Oneal Qin claimed 4th place, narrowly missing out on a countback also on -12. The early pacesetters in the gross division continued to gel well and held on to claim the 5th net prize on -11. May Leow & Helen Ee of Singapore grabbed the 6th net prize on -10 pushing Andrew Nicholson & Brendan Leadbetter into 7th place on a countback.
Final Leaderboard:
