INSPIRING THE NEXT

Jerome Ng, The R&A Director of Business Development in Asia-Pacific, went from being a promising talent to developing potential in others. Tim Pinnegar follows his journey.

- MARCUS LIM

For someone who has spent much of their life playing golf and working in the golf industry it is surprising to hear Jerome Ng say, “I never wanted to take up golf, my first love was food”. It was only when his father promised him a bowl of noodles after hitting balls at the Toa Payoh driving range that he agreed to go along for the first time. Thankfully that reluctant 12-year-old persevered and not only became a successful amateur golfer but has grown to be a passionate advocate for the game of golf in Asia-Pacific.

THE EARLY YEARS

After a few months of hitting balls at the range and seeing his game improve, Jerome started to enjoy golf, and joined Seletar Country Club in 2002, where his father was a member. It was at Seletar that he was spotted by golf coach Greg Anketell and enrolled in the club’s junior programme. Just two years after picking up a club for the very first time Jerome was playing off a single-figure handicap and visiting the range or course almost every day. School work at St Gabriels had to take second place.

A good performance in the Singapore Golf Association, (SGA) trials in 2004 saw Jerome offered a place in the Singapore Youth Squad, where his handicap quickly dropped to three. A promotion to the National Squad in 2005 followed and the next 10 years saw Jerome compete at the highest level of amateur golf in Asia. He rates his seven appearances in the Asia- Pacific Amateur Championship, making the cut every year, and his win at the Philippines Amateur Open in 2013 as his greatest achievements as an amateur golfer.