Jakarta, November 19. Gaganjeet Bhullar finally won the BNI Indonesian Masters 2023 presented by Tunas Niaga Energi, playing dominantly from the first day and always leading the leaderboard. Bhullar try to played safe on the last day, but it was enough to secure his fifth title in Indonesia and his first title at the Indonesian Masters the biggest professional golf tournament in Indonesia. This proves that he is a very dominant Asian tour player in Indonesia. With 3 Indonesian Open titles now 1 title at the Indonesian Masters, Bhullar has made Indonesia his favorite place to win titles.
During the four days of this tournament, Bhullar played very calmly. Even though Jakarta’s weather was unpredictable, sometimes very hot, sometimes raining, it didn’t affect this Indian-born player. Even on the first day, he found a way to conquer the Royale Jakarta Golf Club with 8 under par, then on the second day, 5 under par, third day, 8 underpar, and he closed with 4 under par. On the final day, Bhullar played one flight with David Puig (SPA) and Ben Cambell (NZL); these two players continued to pressure Bhullar all the way to the final hole, and Karandeep Kochhar slowly tried to take over the leaderboard with 8 under par, but it wasn’t enough to overtook Bhullar to become champion.
“The last nine holes were actually very tough, other players got birdies and even eagles, and actually i made a stupid boogie on hole 15, but I am very comfortable playing here in Indonesia, maybe because my grandmother was born in Indonesia,” said Bhullar.
Founder of Indonesian Masters and Chairman of the Asian Tour, Mr. Jimmy Masrin, in his speech at the trophy presentation, was very grateful to sponsors such as Mr. Royke from BNI, Mr. Teddy Jubilant from PT Tunas Niaga Energi, and of course Mr. Hendro and staff from Royale Jakarta Golf Club, who have prepared excellent golf course conditions, because according to Mr. Jimmy, without them this tournament would not be as good as it is.
This last day was filled with many spectators, from adults to children. This shows that the BNI Indonesian Master 2023 presented by Tunas Niaga Energi has succeeded in making this tournament friendly for children and families. Apart from that, with several food court zones, spectators can enjoy various types of local Indonesian food. Apart from the food court zone at this event, there are also many local clothing booths, such as SVING Golf, Good Game, and for official merchandise from OB Golf also provides a booth for fans to hunt for memorabilia.
Talking about clothing, this year there seems to be a change in culture, especially the way of dressing and attitude on the field. It seems that the audience, most of whom also play golf, already know how to dress up and mix and match clothes that are suitable for entering the golf course or just watching golf tournaments, and this shows that golf in Indonesia is slowly becoming a tradition or culture, perhaps even a business, no longer just a sport.