PREPARATIONS for the sixth Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship to be held at The Royal Melbourne Golf Club from 23-26 October are well underway.
Established in 2009 by the Asia Pacific Golf Confederation (APGC), the Masters Tournament and The R&A, the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship will see a field of 120 of the highest ranked players descend on Melbourne to experience the premier amateur golf competition in the region.
US Masters and British Open Qualifying spots up for grabs
The tournament champion will receive an invitation to compete in the US Masters in April 2015 and an exemption into The British Amateur Championship, which is conducted by The R&A. In addition, along with the runner up, places in The Open Qualifying Series are up for grabs, with the opportunity to qualify for The Open Championship at St Andrews in 2015.
Dr. David Cherry, Chairman of the APGC, commented recently on the event coming to Melbourne for the first time: “The Royal Melbourne Golf Club has a rich history of hosting major tournaments and we are delighted to give the best amateur golfers in the Asia-Pacific region the opportunity to play this storied venue.
“The combination of the skill and precision of the region’s best amateur players and a course of this stature is bound to provide golf-lovers in the sport-loving city of Melbourne with a terrific day out during tournament week,” Cherry said.
Since its inception the 72 hole strokeplay event has helped to promote amateur golf across the region and has helped produce some very prominent young champions.
The list includes Japanese sensation Hideki Matsuyama (2010, 2011), a 2014 winner on the US PGA Tour, Chinese youngster Guan Tianlang, who won the event as a 14-year-old in 2012, and South Korea’s Lee Chang-woo, last year’s winner at Nanshan International Golf Club in China.
Runner-up in the 2012 event Cheng-Tsung Pan, 22, from Taiwan, competed in The Open Championship at Royal Liverpool Golf Club last week, adding to his Major appearances at the 2011 US Open and the 2013 US Open at Merion, where he made the cut and finished tied-45th.
Former Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship competitor and Melbourne local, Bryden Macpherson, 23, played his first major as a professional at Hoylake last week. Macpherson won the 2011 Amateur Championship, which earned him a place in the 2011 Open Championship and the 2012 Masters Tournament, following which he turned professional. He has status on the Australasian, OneAsia and Chinese tours.
Entry into The Royal Melbourne Golf Club for the 2014 Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship will be free. For more information, visit www.aacgolf.com.