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By<\/em> Benson & Hedges Classic: The biggest pro title I\u2019ve won was the 1986 Singapore PGA. In total I\u2019ve captured 19 professional titles in my career of which were six Benson and Hedges Classic tournament over six years. This probably is a record in the history of this event.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By Nazamuddin Yusof:\u00a0Turning pro was the easy part. Making a life out of golf in the early years was more difficult than I had ever imagined. After five years as an amateur\u00a0and being acclaimed the best, I joined the professional ranks on December 3rd, 1976 as an impressionable 19 – year-old. In my rookie year, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":525,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-521","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-golf-malaysia","category-malaysia"],"yoast_head":"\n
\nNazamuddin Yusof:\u00a0<\/strong>Turning pro was the easy part. Making a life out of golf in the early years was more difficult than I had ever imagined.
\nAfter five years as an amateur\u00a0and being acclaimed the best, I joined the professional ranks on December 3rd, 1976 as an impressionable 19 – year-old.
\nIn my rookie year, I showed some great promise, winning the Federal Flour Mill Open title and finishing third in the Credit Corporation Malaysia Classic. But I was not satisfied with my game. I was playing only against my fellow country mates. I wanted to compete with the outside world.
\nTo improve myself, I knew I had to compete on the Asian Circuit where I had to play with the best Asian, European, American and Australian players under different climatic conditions in 10 different countries.
\nI set my sights on it but I needed to find the \u00a0money to embark on this journey. I set out to seek sponsors, and that\u2019s when I found that nobody and no corporation was willing to help local golfers. I found myself in a hopeless and helpless\u00a0situation.
\nDejected and disappointed, I returned home to Ipoh. After a short game with racing jockey Chris GWilliam, on the 9-hole Perak Turf Club Course, we settled down for lunch. I found myself lamenting to him about my predicament.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/mysportsflame.com\/sportsflame\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Nazamuddin-Yusof-03-239x300.jpg\")
\nHe asked me how much money I had. I told him I had only RM800, when I needed RM8,000 to play in some of the tournaments on the Asian Circuit.
\nWhat GWilliam said next was what would put me on course, in more ways than one, on my career as a golf pro. He told me to put all my money on a horse called \u201cNot to Worry\u201d which he was\u00a0going to ride that Sunday.
\nImagine that. And that too on a horse named \u2018Not to Worry\u2019. It was as if there was a message of reassurance for me, a fledgling golfer who just turned pro, and given my dire straits, worried if I would succeed.
\nI am not ashamed to tell this. I went for broke and placed the RM800 on \u201cNot To Worry.\u201d It was a one chance in a million, and if I made a winning, I was on my way to the Asian Circuit. But if I lose, I would be penniless, and my pro career would have ended even before it could take off.
\nLife, as I was told, is often a game of chance. And \u00a0I took mine, on a horse called \u201cNot to Worry\u201d. As it turned out, the horse won, and I pocketed nearly RM8000. I did not have to worry, I was on my way to the 1978 Asian Circuit. It was more than enough to sustain me for six tournaments, round trip air ticket, accommodation, caddie fees and food.
\nI did not win any money on the tour but the experience I gained playing with the likes of Graham Marsh, Payne Stewart, Lu Liang Huan, Hideyo Sugimoto and many others put me in good stead in my 17 years as a playing professional before turning to teaching and golf course management.
\nPeople and events in my life as a golfer:
\nZainal Abidin: My elder brother who was a great influence on my career. He showed me a lot and was a great teacher. In fact I picked up the game when he was the resident pro of the Royal Perak Golf Club. He asked me to take care of the driving range as a 16-year-old schoolboy. I used to watch and laugh at the many members at the driving range. It was comical as they would hit the balls in all directions. That was when I told myself I could do better than them, and that was the start of my golf journey.
\nWalter Godfrey: He told me you have to venture out into the big pond. No point fishing in a small pond where you can only get small fry. Try to swim in the ocean and compete with the big fish then you will know how good you are. I took his advice and competed in the Australian Circuit with some of the world\u2019s top players.
\nGraham Marsh: In one Singapore Open I was paired with Marsh in the final round. After the 18th hole, he shook my hand and said: \u201cYou know Naza, this was one time I did not get the honour of teeing off first in all the 18 holes.\u201d Only then did I realise, I had the honour throughout and I beat him in that final round.
\nAt lunch he gave me a tip on how to gain respect. You have to give your time to the media. Always treat the press the best you can. They can build you up or they can bring you down.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/mysportsflame.com\/sportsflame\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Nazamuddin-Yusof-04-232x300.jpg\")
\nGeorge Das: In those early days when golf did not get much media play, he promoted the local pros and the Malaysian PGA circuit in the New Straits Times. To a great extent he helped boost professional golf in the country and many of us got to be recognised by the public and potential sponsors.
\nHe was like a big brother to me and whenever I had a bad round, he would always encourage me to \u201cforget yesterday and\u00a0concentrate on the next round.\u201d The amazing thing about him is, he\u2019s not a golfer, but he read as much as he could about the game and its rules. He was always in our midst, questioning us and seeking answers. I even travelled with him to two Mizuno Golf tournaments in Osaka.
\nQadeer & Hamid Ahmad: When Dunlop Malaysia turned me down by saying that they did not sponsor local pros, I was introduced to these two brothers by Ramlan Harun. Without asking me for a biodata of myself, they signed me on. They ran a sports shop \u201cCar & Company\u201d which held the Mizuno Golf agency. From then on I did not have a problem about getting golf equipment.
\nWalter Hagen: I never met this great golfer, but 50 years ago as an 11-year-old schoolboy in Ipoh, I found a broken 8-iron Walter Hagen club. I was walking by the 6th hole of the Perak Turf Club course when I picked it up from a bush. I restored it with a \u201cnew\u201d shaft made from a discarded iron bar and wrapped a cut-up bicycle tube for the grip. This was my first club but I just hit around with not much interest. Football was my rage.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/mysportsflame.com\/sportsflame\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Nazamuddin-Yusof-05-300x279.jpg\")
\nDunhill Cup 1991: After helping Malaysia qualify for the final in St. Andrews, I was unceremoniously dropped from the three-man team to Scotland. It was the most disappointing moment in my career. After this my game started to slide and I quit my playing career in 1993 to take up a job with Tanjung Puteri Golf Resort and helping build the course to a reputable international standard.<\/p>\n