THE Business Times Corporate Golf League tournament returns this week, with a total of 17 teams taking part in the competitive and social categories.

The annual event, which is presented by Singapore Pools, will tee off this Thursday (Mar 7) at Sentosa Golf Club’s Serapong course.

The other four legs will take place at Orchid Country Club’s Vanda and Aranda courses (Mar 22); Tanah Merah Country Club’s Tampines course (Apr 4); Seletar Country Club (Apr 26); with the finale held at Laguna National Golf and Country Club’s Masters course (May 9).

Last year’s champions, Hugo Boss, are back to defend their crown and they have entered an all-woman team in the competition for the first time. The idea came from a casual meeting six months ago between the company’s communications strategist Melanie Goh and some of her golfing colleagues.

Goh ended up being the team manager, with seasoned golfer Marilyn Lum unanimously chosen to captain the group.

Over the past few months, the duo recruited a total of 11 players. This was followed by intense practice sessions at the Hidden Castle Indoor Simulator facility at the Furama Riverfront hotel at Havelock Road.

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The fact that Team Boss, who have competed in the BT league since 2017, are the defending champions did not deter the women from taking on the challenge in the competitive category, where the five other teams are all-male.

Lum, an 18-handicapper who plays mostly at the Singapore Island Country Club, admitted there was some degree of pressure heading into the tournament.

“However, I’ve told my girls that as long as they give of the best, I’ll be satisfied. We have a reasonably good team and they are motivated to perform well. We hope to add some colour to the event,” she said.

In Team Boss’ ranks are a pair of teenage sisters. Jaymie Ng, 18, is part of the national team while 16-year-old Denise plays for the Singapore Golf Association’s development squad. Jaymie was the youngest in Team Singapore’s golf squad at the South-east Asian Games in Cambodia last year.

The other players in Team Boss are Kelly Kim, Stephanie Lee, Billie Wong, Li Anne Fones, Cassandra Teng, Angelina Xiong, Decca Foe, Ethel Chua and Andrea Chua.

The five other teams in the BT League’s competitive category are Singapore Pools, Performance Motors, CLA Global, Singapore Global Trust and SPH Media.

Singapore Global Trust has fielded a strong team with the likes of former national football goalkeeper David Lee and former backstroke swimming champion David Lim.

They also have national golfers Aloysa Atienza, a former Sea Games runner-up, and Chen Xing Tong, who competed in last week’s HSBC Women’s World Championship.

Teams will field four players for each of the five legs. The best three scores count towards the points table in the modified stableford competition.

For the social category, 11 teams have signed up. They are Singapore Pools, Performance Motors, Adidas, Takashimaya, Paragon Reit, OCBC, KPMG, I-Kare, Olam Agri, ONERHT and SPH Media.

Performance Motors is the hole-in-one sponsor, with a brand new car going to any player who can sink a hole-in-one during the event.

For the first, third and fifth legs, the prize is a BMW iX. For the second and fourth legs, a BMW i5 is up for grabs.

Adidas is the official apparel sponsor, while Takashimaya is the official department store.

At a networking event held on Feb 22 at Performance Motors’ showroom along Alexandra Road, The Business Times editor Chen Huifen thanked the teams and sponsors for their participation and support. “We appreciate the overwhelming support provided by the companies,” she said. “The idea behind this event, which started in 2009, is to foster friendship and camaraderie among the players while also bringing out the golfing competitive spirit.”