FORE! Dayanitha (left) and Tze Jean are ready to go for it

DAYANITHA KUNESAKRAN and Chua Tze Jean are among 62 local entries for the 26th Malaysian Ladies Amateur Golf Open Championship 2009 to be held at the Mines Resort and Golf Club from Aug 4-6.

The two women have just graduated — Dayanitha from the International Golf Institute, Gold Coast in Brisbane, Australia and Tze Jean at Wake Forest University in Carolina, United States.

Top-heavy with playing experience in the championships, the women are highly confident of a good performance. Tze Jean competed in three series since 2003 and on two occasions — in 2004 and 2005, came in second and third respectively.

She is aware of the threat from last year’s champion Kawinpakorn Yupaporn from Thailand and runner-up Indonesian Ines Putri Chandra.

“Both of them are the front-runners for the title. I hope to give them a good run for their money. My only disadvantage is that I’m not familiar with the greens here (Mines Golf Club). But I still have time to do practice rounds and hopefully will garner all my experience to play to the best of my ability.

“Finishing fifth in the Maryland Natural championship in May has also boost confidence. This will my last stint as an amateur as I want to turn pro soon,” said 21-year-old Tze Jean, who majored in Communication studies.

Dayanitha meanwhile, is bubbling with confidence. The 23-year-old hopes to dish out a good performance unless of course her putting fails her. Despite having played in the championships for five times, she would like to assess her play from tee to green.

“I did quite well when I was studying in the Gold Coast and won the Order of Merit, an award for golf achievers over a period of four months. My main weakness is on the green as I’m not consistently up to the mark with the putter. Last year, I did not compete,” said Dayanitha, a four-handicapper, who is now a management trainee at the Mines Resort.

At a media conference at The Mines Resort and Golf Club, the Malaysian Ladies Golf Association (MALGA) confirmed that a total of 137 entries had been accepted.

For the first time, an award for the best dressed female golfer will be on offer. Taiwan’s late request to add another seven players was duly granted by the organisers under the auspices of Tan Sri Lee Kim Yew and Tunku Puteri Datuk Seri Jawahir Almarhum Tunku Ja’afar who were present.