Lucius, Margaret earn crowning glory

Lucius Toh and Margaret Fernandez upset the odds to score "memorable" title triumphs.

The duo wanted some fun in the four-day Singapore National Amateur Championship which ended at the Orchid Country Club yesterday.

Eventually they had fun immersed in euphoria as they bagged their biggest victories in their golfing career.

For Lucius, 19 and doing National Service, golf over the past year has been limited to the occasional weekend social rounds and this was his first tournament in 12 months.

But he played above himself to beat his opponents en route to shocking a player whom he admired a lot, national player Marc Ong, 2/1 in yesterday's men's final.

Introduced to the game by his golfing dad Raymond, a manager, the victory hands Lucius a spot in the SMBC Singapore Open at Sentosa Golf Club in January.

The 0.5 handicap index player from Seletar said: "It was sheer coincidence that I won all my four matchplay rounds on the penultimate hole - the par-three eighth at Dendro.

"It was an amazing victory over Marc. I was one-up going into the par-four 34th hole. We hit our drives to about the same distance, the played pars.

"But on the next par-three 178-metre hole, Marc hit his tee shot into water, but bounced back with a great bogey. But I found the green and just two-putted for victory."

For the admirer of Tiger Woods whose previous biggest win was the Selangor Amateur Open in 2014, "it is an over-the-moon feeling to look forward to playing in my first pro event at Sentosa.'

Margaret, a 13-year-old student at Whitley Secondary, was as ecstatic as Lucius, as her opponent Erika Layson is a battle-hardened golfer with several titles.

Margaret's 2/1 victory was also clinched at the penultimate Dendro par-three 120-metre hole, after both players bagged pars with Margaret going in with a 2-up lead.

Said Margaret, whose brother Fabian, 15, and sister Anne, 10, also competed: "I have never won an individual title before, so this triumph is special."

The 3.6 handicap index golfer from SICC is hoping that her dad Ignatius, who works in a shipping company, will give her a dinner treat for her triumph.

RESULTS

Men: Final: Lucius Toh bt Marc Ong 2/1.

3rd: Joshua Ho bt Ryan Wong 6/5.

Women: Final: Margaret Fernandez bt Erika Layson 2/1.

3rd: Callista Chen bt Elizabeth Ang 1-up