SHAKEEL Pillay and Raina Kumar closed out the 2025 golf season in style after winning their respective divisions at the Western Amateur Championship, which was completed last Saturday at the Denarau Golf Club.
The pair, regarded as the best in the country this season, ended the final event on Golf Fiji’s 2025 calendar on a high, rounding off a year filled with milestones for the sport.
Golf Fiji president Amitesh Chandra said the season had delivered strong progress both on and off the course.
He highlighted that 2025 was a breakthrough year for junior star Raina, who became the first female golfer from Fiji to be world-ranked.
“Raina recently returned from a training camp in New Zealand and will head back in February to compete at the Ladies Asia-Pacific Golf Event.
“Shakeel, meanwhile, continued his rapid rise in the world standings. He began the year ranked around 4000 and has climbed to 1000, with expectations of further improvement when the rankings update tomorrow,” Chandra said.
Chandra added that Golf Fiji hosted six world-ranking tournaments this year its highest ever while also distributing around $20,000 to affiliated clubs for development programs.
“It has been a great year for Golf Fiji overall,” he added.
