Singapore (December 9): He may be more than 2,300 kilometres from home, but the presence of James Leow will loom large over contestants at this week’s 14th Faldo Series Singapore Championship.

Leow assured himself a place in local golfing folklore last week in the Philippines capital of Manila when he became the first Singaporean for 30 years to win an individual gold medal at the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games.

Not only did that success against many of the region’s most prominent amateurs earn front and back page headlines for Leow in his home land, but also it resonated with Singapore’s golfing fraternity.

“This milestone was only possible because of the tremendous support that all golf clubs and golfers in Singapore gave to our team,” said a statement issued by the Singapore Golf Association, the country’s ruling golfing body.

While Leow has remained in the Philippines to spearhead Singapore’s bid for further medal glory in the golf team event, a selection of his promising golfing compatriots will take inspiration from his efforts when they tee-off in the Faldo Series Singapore Championship.

Being staged in conjunction with the second leg of the SGA’s 2019 HSBC Youth Golf Challenge at the National Service Resort & Country Club’s (NSRCC) Kranji Sanctuary Golf Course, a 77-strong field will be bidding for honours.

Leading the charge in what will be the 10th event of the 2019-20 Faldo Series Asia season is in-form Sean Lee.

At Kranji Sanctuary last year, Lee signed off with a brilliant bogey-free, seven-under-par 65 for the best round of the week to finish no fewer than 15 strokes in front of his closest challengers in the Boys’ Under-16 Division and qualify for the Faldo Series Asia Grand Final where he placed fifth in his age group.

He’s now setting his sights on a return trip to Laguna Lăng Cô in Danang, Central Vietnam for the 14th edition of the Faldo Series Asia Grand Final, to be hosted by Sir Nick Faldo in March, 2020.

Lee’s confidence will have been boosted by a string of outstanding performances this year, including runner-up finishes in May’s ATI Ciputera Golfpreneur World Junior Championship in the Indonesian capital of Jakarta and June’s Singapore Open Junior Championship, and victories in the SSG-Tering Bay International Amateur Championship and last week’s Singapore Island Country Club/DBS Junior Invitational Golf Championship.

The 2019-20 Faldo Series Asia season is supported by The R&A and endorsed by the Asian Tour and the Asia Pacific Golf Confederation. The International Junior Golf Academy is a partner of the Faldo Series.

As well as a series of qualifiers in Thailand, the FSA schedule includes two events in China and championships in Australia, Bangladesh, Chinese-Taipei, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Nepal, New Zealand, Pakistan, the Philippines, Singapore and Vietnam.

Recognised as the only global amateur series for boys and girls, the Faldo Series was established in 1996, expanding to Asia in 2006.

Today, 40 Faldo Series tournaments take place in 30-plus countries worldwide, touching more than 7,000 golfers each year. Past champions include Tseng Ya-ni and Rory McIlroy, both multiple Major winners, while recent LPGA Tour winners include Thidapa Suwannapura (2010 Faldo Series Asia Grand Final Girls’ champion) and Nasa Hataoka (2016 Faldo Series Asia Grand Final Girls’ champion) who claimed her third LPGA Tour title in March.