By Ruth Ninajanty . Published in Polo Indonesia Magazine, first edition 2013.
Jimmy Masrin shares his determination to create a world champion from Indonesia.
Jimmy has been playing golf since 1985. From the time he first picked up a golf club, he’s really into it. “I love golf because it’s a character-building and character-defining sport. Indonesia is among the biggest nations in Asia but we’re so behind in golf, in tournaments, in tourism and everything. So I said we have to start a tournament that can showcase Indonesia,” he asserts. That’s how Indonesian Masters golf tournament was born. In the long run, he plans to make Indonesia a golf-tourism destination and home to world champions.
Golf, just like Polo, is an elite sport. Jimmy remarks, “Until we make it available to the mass, right now more and more people are exposed to it and now we’re facing another challenge of having not enough golf courses.
So, he connects his golfing passion and Indonesian Masters with charity through Habitat For Humanity. “The vision of Indonesian Masters is, we don’t want to be just an elite sport where everybody pays and just does sports. We want to give back through golf.” The players of Indonesian Masters give back through annual charity dinner, raising enough funds to raise 28 homes to the poor. Aside from being the president director and CEO of PT Caturkarsa Megatunggal, he also sits as the board member of Habitat for Humanity Indonesia.
“I play squash, I do hiking, mountain climbing, but for me nothing is as challenging as golf. In Golf, you have nobody to blame except for yourself. The ball is still and you don’t play against anybody. It’s really intriguing,” he concludes.
