SINGAPORE –  It was expected to be a hotly contested race for the presidency of the Singapore Golf Association (SGA) — the first in the sport association’s 55-year history — but it eventually turned out to be a non-starter, as veteran sports administrator Low Teo Ping withdrew from Wednesday (July 20) elections to hand businessman Ross Tan the mandate to lead the SGA for the next two years.

Both Tan and Low had submitted their application for the SGA presidency on June 20. 

They were looking to succeed outgoing president Bob Tan, who had served the maximum three two-year terms in the post.

But Low’s withdrawal during the SGA’s annual general meeting (AGM) last evening meant that there was only one candidate for the presidency, as Tan then went on to secure the required majority vote — at least seven — from the 13-member governing council to become the ­association’s new president.

Speaking to the media after Wednesday's AGM, a clearly delighted Tan outlined his vision of “strength, growth and accessibility” for Singapore golf in his quest to bring the sport here to the next level.

“In the area of strength, my main focus is to build a strong bond within the golf fraternity, which I feel is lacking at the moment,” said the new man in-charge. 

“We’re also talking about partnership and we will be looking at partnering closely with more stakeholders, such as Sentosa Golf Club which Teo Ping is president of, to grow the sport, as well as make it more accessible to the masses.

“I’ve not been chief of an NSA ­before, so what I intend to is to learn from other NSAs who are ­doing well and adopt their successful practices. The feeling (of being elected president) is one of achievement and ­uncertainty. I won’t promise we will make changes overnight, but we want to show that we’re trying to plug these holes.”

Low, the president of the Sentosa Golf Club, cited a hectic schedule over the next three months, which will prevent him from addressing ­issues in the SGA that “required immediate and urgent attention”, as the reason for withdrawing from the elections.

In particular, Low would not have had the time to appoint the new members for the various vacant ­positions in the SGA ExCo, which the new president would have to do in two weeks.

The 71-year-old currently has several other pressing obligations on his plate. In addition to being Singapore’s chef-de-mission for the upcoming Olympic Games — he will fly off to Rio de Janeiro next week – he is also the incumbent president of the Singapore Rugby Union (SRU).

“For the next four months, I’ve got my Olympic commitments and will be travelling a lot to prepare for next year’s Singapore (Rugby) 7s, as well as take some other side trips,” explained Low.

“Under the constitution, it’s ­required for me to appoint the new members (of the ExCo), like treasurer, which has not been nominated within two weeks. I don’t have the time to do that, and I didn’t want to ask for dispensation as well as that’s not my style.”