Patinya Kuantrakul was yesterday re-elected unopposed as president of the Thailand Ladies Professional Golf Association for a second two-year term.
Patinya Kuantrakul.
Better known as 'Pa Tob', the 50-year-old was the only candidate and vowed to further push for golf development.
"I will try to organise tournaments of high standards for our players to horn their skills to be able to compete on the international stage," said Patinya, who is only the second boss of the six-year-old association after Somporn Juengrungruangkit.
"I will be happy to see them successful in their careers. We also have a golf academy with support from the Sports Authority of Thailand."
With funds mainly from the SAT, Singha and Toyota, Patinya plans to host 10 tournaments this year _ three more than last year _ with a purse of 500,000 baht each.
The highlight will be the 3 million baht Thailand LPGA Masters from Aug 13-15 at Bangkok's Panya Indra Golf Club.
SAT deputy governor Sakol Wannapong said that women's golf has become more popular here and many Thai players have had creditable results on the international stage.
This year the SAT has increased its financial support for the association to more than 10 million baht, he said.