BATTLES for golfing supremacy were not confined to the region's fairways during 1994. Nevertheless, all things considered, it has been an above-par year for Southeast Asia's leading golfers.
While 1994 will go down in the history books as the year the Asian Tour Order of Merit title was won by a Paraguayan, Carlos Franco, it will also be remembered for the emergence of an exciting crop of young players who will carry Asian hopes of glory into the 21st century.
Indeed, 1994 was a year when a new order began to take shape in many of the region's most prominent golfing nations.
While familiar faces such as Marimuthu Ramayah (Malaysia), Choi Sang-ho (South Korea) and Boonchu Ruangkit (Thailand) continued to be forces, their long-time domination of their domestic circuits came under threat.
Periasamy Gunasegaran, Kim Jong-duk and Prayad Marksaeng all gave indications of what lies ahead with mature performances that bode well for the ever-growing popularity of the sport in their own countries and across the region.
'Guna' captured the heart of his nation when he holed a monster birdie putt at the 72nd hole to join European Tour stars Joakim Haeggman of Sweden and New Zealander Frank Nobilo in a sudden-death play-off in the Malaysian Open at Royal Selangor.