Amateur Lam impresses with 66 at Barclays Singapore Open

Local amateur Lam Zhiqun produced a stunning first round performance in the Barclays Singapore Open with a five-under-par 66 on the harder Serapong Course at Sentosa Golf Club.

Lam, the Singapore amateur champion, had the second best score of the day on The Serapong for joint ninth spot in the US$6 million tournament.

The 22-year-old, who finished top 10 in the recent ISPS Handa Singapore Classic on the Asian Tour, was bogey-free on the challenging layout.

“I birdied three, four, five and missed a birdie putt on the sixth.  Also, I birdied the seventh and it was a stretch which I got hot with my putter and everything just seemed to go in.  I just hit it very solid and managed to hole my putts from 10, 15 feet,” he said.

“The back-nine was tougher than the front because there was only one par-five. I just tried to keep it in play and not make too many mistakes. I made a couple but managed to get up and down to save par.

“I didn’t realise I didn’t have any bogeys until I reached 18th today so hopefully I can continue to keep doing what I’ve been doing today, play hole by hole, shot by shot for the next three days and see what happens.”

Lam said that playing the Serapong Course first was a huge advantage.

“Playing Serapong on the first day is actually a good thing because if you play well, if you manage to shoot par or better, you stand a good chance of gaining an advantage because Tanjong is obviously the easier side and I’ll try to play well there tomorrow,” he said.

Lam said that playing the Serapong Course first was a huge advantage.

“Playing Serapong on the first day is actually a good thing because if you play well, if you manage to shoot par or better, you stand a good chance of gaining an advantage because Tanjong is obviously the easier side and I’ll try to play well there tomorrow,” he said.

Despite his recent good form Lam has not decided when to join the pay for play ranks.

“I haven’t really decided when I want to turn pro but hopefully it’ll be very soon. I plan to go the Asian Tour Qualifying school next year and I’m hoping to get a sponsor’s invite to Johor next week,” he said.

Lam Chi-Bing matched his young countryman's 66 on the easier Tanjong Course.