Mantin – A total of 24 golfers from Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM) and the Ministry of Higher Education (MoHE) competed against one another in the Friendship Golf Tournament that took place at Staffield Country Resort, Negeri Sembilan, yesterday.
The friendly tournament is the first of its kind to be organised by UUM through its National Golf Academy (UUMNGA) with the goal of drawing together senior officials from MoHE and UUM lecturers.
Speaking at the ceremony to celebrate the winners, the Secretary General of the Ministry of Higher Education, Dato’ Seri Abdul Razak Jaafar said, golf is a special sport because it provides a space and opportunity for MoHE to gather useful input from universities for future planning purposes.
“The network established in the sport of golf is important and has great significance because MoHE can receive valuable input from the Public University (PU) for future planning,” he explained.
He also expressed his appreciation for UUMNGA’s initiative in organising the inaugural friendly golf tournament.
Meanwhile, the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic and International) who is performing the duties of UUM Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Dr Shahimi Mohtar said that the tournament was held to acknowledge the successful partnership between the MoHE Sports Division and UUM via its NGA, which oversaw the MoHE Golf Sports Excellence Centre with unwavering commitment that has led to numerous national and international accomplishments.
“This tournament is held to further strengthen the relationship between the top management of UUM in general and UUMNGA in particular with the MoHE as well as further strengthen the bonds of friendship among students under UUMNGA,” he said.
According to Prof. Dr Shahimi, the sport of golf is not only for the elite members of society, despite what the society believes; rather, according to him, the sport of golf is open to all members of the society.
“The exposure of new talents needs to be nurtured so that a new generation of successful players can be produced.
“It is the desire of UUM, which has been appointed as the Golf Centre of Excellence, and with the efforts of UUMNGA as a pioneer of the mandate, it is hoped that this tournament will increase the awareness and interest of the Malaysian community in golf,” he said.
According to him, this organisation is responsible for forming additional networks among players so that they can share their thoughts and expertise in order to further promote the sport of golf among members of the community and students.
This tournament was won by the three best players, including Dato’ Pekan Ramli, the Deputy Secretary of the Ministry of Higher Education, who finished in third place. While, Dr Muslimim Wallang, Lecturer at the School of Government (COLGIS), came in second.
UUM Creative Industry Management and Performing Arts (SCIMPA) lecturer, Assoc. Prof. Dr Adzrool Idzwan Ismail, was crowned the tournament’s Overall Best Player, while the MoHE team was named the tournament’s Overall Best Team.
