Curtis Luck rode last year's AAC title to a #1 World Ranking and a Masters berth
(AAC photo)
UPPER HUTT, NEW ZEALAND (October 25, 2017) - The Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship (AAC) visits New Zealand this week, with the winner punching his ticket to two professional majors next season.
The historic Royal Wellington Golf Club is expected to present a windy challenge as the AAC makes its debut in New Zealand, with the 72-hole stroke play event teeing off on Thursday.
Founded in 1895, the club sits alongside the Hutt River half-an-hour northeast of Wellington, New Zealand’s famously windy capital. A 6,845-yard, par-71 layout has been set for the 120-strong field, with par-fives at holes two, four and 18.
Cool weather and strong winds are expected to be among the main challenges for competitors, with the eventual champion earning spots in the 2018 Masters Tournament and, for the first time, The 147th Open at Carnoustie. The runner(s)-up will earn a place in The Open Qualifying Series for The Open.
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Royal Wellington GC
(AAC photo) |
Daniel Hillier, 19, knows the course better than any other player in the field, as a Royal Wellington member who has spent most of his life in the area.
“The guys can expect the wind to swirl quite a lot, as the club sits in a valley and the wind just bounces off all the hills. It’s a good test and most likely it’ll be pretty strong as well. You’ve got to be on top of your game,” said Hillier, New Zealand’s second-ranked amateur.
“It still trips me up from time to time. It’s one of those courses where you’ve just got to check where it’s coming from and commit to the shot. With the redevelopment a few years ago, the club has come a long way. It looks beautiful and it’s a great test of golf so it should be a good week.”
Below is a great video illustrating the extent to which the Royal Wellington Golf Club has prepared for hosting the Asia-Pacific Amateur, sending their superintendent on an apprenticeship to the Masters in Augusta, GA:
Australians
Travis Smyth – playing the AAC for a third successive year – and
Harrison Endycott are the highest-ranked competitors in a field featuring 38 nations.
Smyth and Endycott, 12th and 14th respectively in the World Amateur Golf Ranking, head a strong six-man Australia contingent looking to retain the title
won by compatriot Curtis Luck in South Korea last year.
Min Woo Lee, younger brother of LPGA star Minjee Lee and
last year’s U.S. Junior Amateur champion, and Australia teammates
Dylan Perry, who finished runner-up in The Amateur Championship,
Shae Wools-Cobb and
Charlie Dann are all making their AAC debut.
Indian teen
Rayhan Thomas is the field’s third-ranked player at World No. 26 and one to watch after
equaling the record for most consecutive birdies at a professional event last month, shooting nine in a row at a MENA Tour event at the Dubai Creek Golf and Yacht Club, his home course.
Yu Chun-an (World No. 34) is Taiwan’s top-ranked player, while
Andy Zhang (World No. 39) heads a China line-up that features former champions
Jin Cheng (2015) and
Guan Tianlang (2012), who’s playing in the AAC for a sixth straight year.
World No. 44
Nick Voke – playing for the fourth time in five years – is the host country’s top-ranked amateur and the Iowa State University graduate is in fine form, having won one of the dozen First Stage events in the Web.com Tour Qualifying Tournament earlier this month. Voke, 23, and Hillier are part of a 10-player New Zealand line-up.
Sean Maruyama is Japan’s top-ranked player and the son of Shigeki Maruyama, a 10-time winner on the Japan Golf Tour and a three-time PGA TOUR winner, while Philippines No. 1
Lloyd Jefferson Go is playing for the fifth straight year and among several U.S. college golfers in the field.
Situated on the southern coast of New Zealand’s North Island and renowned as one of the world’s windiest cities, Wellington is the country’s third-biggest city with a population of about 200,000, far less than Auckland, which has about 1.5 million people.
The Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship (AAC) is organised by the Founding Partners – Asia Pacific Golf Confederation (APGC), the Masters Tournament and The R&A – and will be televised across 160 countries and reach millions of homes around the world.
ABOUT THE
Asia-Pacific Amateur
The Asia-Pacific Amateur (formerly known as the
Asian Amateur) is the first of a series of
worldwide
championships put together by a between the
Asia
Pacific Golf Confederation (APGC), the Masters
Tournament and The R&A. The event offers the
winner an invitation to the Masters Tournament at
Augusta National Golf Club and the British Open
Championship.
The event has historically moved throughout the
region and has now been held in China,
Japan, Singapore, Thailand,
Australia and Hong Kong, Korea, and New
Zealand.
A field, topping out at 120 players, is selected by
the
following criteria.
The top two ranked amateur players from
each
of the APGC member countries plus the four
top ranked players from the host country. If
there is not a sufficient number of players
ranked from that member country, the
member
country may nominate a player(s) from
their
country, to be approved by the APGC, to
fulfill
the two positions eligible from that country.
The remainder of the field will be filled
taking
the next highest ranked players of APGC
member countries, not otherwise qualified.
The
maximum number of eligible players from
any
APGC member country (with the exception
of
the host country) is six. Additional players may
be offered at the event's discretion.
View Complete Tournament Information