Young Kasiadi leads local talent in Indonesia Open
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Indonesia's Benny Kasiadi, the son of the great Kasiadi, will compete in this week's Indonesia Open presented by Jakarta for the first time as a professional and is one of a record number of local players competing.
The tournament tees-off on Thursday at Damai Indah Golf - Pantai Indah Kapuk Course with 35 Indonesians bidding for honours in the US$1million OneAsia tournament.
Benny Kasiadi, along with compatriots Rory Hie and Andik Mauludin, represent an exciting new young generation of Indonesian golfers who all have the potential to match and surpass the feats of Kasiadi.
Kasiadi is the only local player to have won the Indonesia Open. The former caddie from Surabaya won the title in 1989 and enjoyed a decade of playing golf in the region at the highest level.
Now in his late 40s he will caddie for his 23-year-old son this week to try and help him outshine some of the tournament's star players like Japan's Shingo Katayama, Liang Wenchong from China, Singaporean Mardan Mamat and Thailand's Thaworn Wiratchant and Prom Meesawat.
He has reason to be confident as Benny won his maiden title as professional last month when he claimed the third event on the local Ancora Pro Series tour. He beat Hie by a stroke and buoyed by that confidence played in the Mercedes-Benz Masters Thailand the following week which marked the first time he had played overseas as a member of the paid ranks.
"I had goose bumps when I won. I was so happy. I thought Rory would win but he bogeyed the last hole and I birdied 16 and 17. My father was following me but was nervous and stayed in the background behind the tree sometimes," said the young Kasiadi.
He started playing golf when he was five and describes his father as a friend, coach and manager.
They have very similar features one obvious one being they are both just under five-and-a-half feet tall. Benny Kasiadi also his has father's famous broad smile and cheeky laugh.
Lack of distance resulted in Kasiadi becoming a master tactician on the golf course and this is something he has instilled in his son.
"My father always tells me to practice course management. It is the most important thing. I feel so lucky to have a father like this," said Benny Kasaidi, who also has a reputation for being a clutch putter.
The father and son partnership hasn't always worked as when Benny Kasiadi played in the Mercedes-Benz Masters Thailand his dad told him to change the shaft in his driver from stiff to regular in order get more distance.
He didn't play that well and finished joint 30th.
"I called him and said why did you tell me to do that!" joked Benny Kasiadi.
He has played in the Indonesia twice before as an amateur in 2005 and 2007. He missed the cut both times so will be hoping to make amends this week.
The Indonesia Open presented by Enjoy Jakarta will be the fifth leg of burgeoning OneAsia, which will stage 11 tournaments with a total of more than US$12 million in prize money this season.
This week's event will be showcased on OneAsia's television platform with live coverage for four hours a day across all four tournament days, and broadcast to over 260 million homes in more than 40 countries. Full coverage of this week's event will be available domestically on ESPN Star Sports, as well as internationally on ESPN3.com, Network Ten, America One and Bloomberg Television among others.
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