APGC Newsletter December 2013 by Timothy Campbell

APGC

Asia-Pacific Golf Confederation Newsletter

DECEMBER 2013

Nerves of steel: Lee Chang-woo held his nerve superbly to win the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship by three shots at Nanshan in Shandong, China.

Contents APGC Schedule of Events 2013

Korean Lee claims Masters berth

Kawamura too good for Koreans

Australia claims 10th Nomura Cup

A referee’s point of view

NZ wins APGC Seniors

Goss looks to Masters after loss

More British Open spots for APGC players 6

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Calm Korean Lee claims Masters berth with ease Korean Lee Chang-woo’s impressive ability to concentrate on his game and shelve thoughts of the main prize allowed him to snare the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship.

Lee cruised to a three-shot victory at Nanshan International Golf Club in Shandong Province, China, to cement a spot in next year’s Masters Tournament. The 19-year-old, who tied for second with Rory McIlroy at the Korean Open the previous week,

bogeyed the final hole but still managed a final round 70 for a thee under par total of 281. Japan’s Shohei Hasagawa was the lone runner-up, finishing square with the card and one shot ahead of third placegetter and compatriot, Kenta Konishi.

Lee and Hasegawa both secured places into Final Qualifying for The Open Championship. Defending champion Guan Tianlang finished in a tie for eighth at five over for the tournament. Lee displayed remarkable consistency and composure throughout the championship, heading into the final day with ›

On track: Korean Lee Chang-woo has cemented a spot in next year’s Masters Tournament.

a one-shot lead after earlier rounds of 70-72-69. He began one ahead of another rising Chinese teenager, Dou Zecheng, the 16-year-old who was aiming to become China’s second winner after Guan’s triumph in Bangkok last year at the tender age of 14. Dou’s day began brightly when he found himself level with Lee after the Korean bogeyed the second hole, but from then on he battled the Garden Course’s slick greens and slipped down the leaderboad to eventually finish in a share of fourth spot at three over the card alongside Australian Lucas Herbert and Korean Lee Soo-min. Lee becomes the second Korean to win the Championship after the inaugural victory by Han Chang-won at Mission Hills Golf Club in southern China in 2 ❘ APGC Newsletter ❘ DECEMBER 2013

2009. Although he maintained his focus throughout the last day to make the turn in 36, square with the card, before exerting his dominance with birdies at the 12th and 15th, Lee admitted it was difficult keeping his nerves at bay with the prospect of playing at Augusta National at stake ... until his tee shot at the par three 17th bit in the middle of the green. “I have been looking up at the leader board since the third round and I was a bit nervous,” Lee said. “I just tried to stay calm and it seemed to work. I knew I was going to win after the tee shot on the 17th hole.” “Everything worked out well during the last two rounds ... I can’t believe I am going to the Masters. I think I will only realise it tomorrow,” he said after walking off the 18th green.

“Playing in the Masters has been my dream since I started playing golf. I didn’t think I would have an opportunity so this is a great honour, as is playing in International Final Qualifying for The Open Championship. I have never been so excited.” Lee, who is from Seoul, last September signalled his profound potential when he won the Dongbu Promi Open on the professional Korean Tour. Hasegawa, 20, birdied the final hole with a five metre putt to collect the silver medal for runner-up but said later he had struggled on the speedy greens. “My putting let me down over the weekend and I hope to return next year to get the trophy,” Hasegawa said. “But I’m glad to have a chance to qualify for the Open. I think this is a great

chance for my golfing career.” Meanwhile, Guan, who seemed set for a tilt at back-toback titles with a third round 68, slid back into a tie for eighth with last year’s runner-up, Pan Cheng-tsung of Chinese Taipei, Japan’s Kazuya Koura and Australian Brady Watt. Nevertheless, Guan agreed he’d had “an amazing year” after becoming, at 14, the youngest player to line up in the Masters. “I didn’t defend my title this week, although I feel like my game was good,” Guan said. “But I really appreciate the opportunities the tournament has given me.” Australia’s Oliver Goss was undone by the back nine in the final round but will still play in next April’s Masters courtesy of his runner-up finish at this year’s US Amateur Championship.

Kawamura too good for Koreans Young Japanese star Masahiro Kawamura outclassed Koreans Y.E. Yang and Park Sung-joon to secure his first career victory at the Asia-Pacific Panasonic Open, in Osaka.

The 20-year-old Kawamura overturned a two-shot deficit with a battling fourunder-par 67 to claim a one-shot win over Park, who closed with a 70, at the $US1.48 million event sanctioned by the Asian Tour and Japan Golf Tour. Yang, an Asian Tour honorary member and Asia’s first male Major champion, had his hopes ruined by a triple bogey on the 11th hole at the Ibaraki Country Club. He settled for third after returning with a 69 while Liang Wen-chong (68) of China, the 2007 Asian Tour Order of Merit winner, Brad Kennedy (70) of Australia and Akio Sadakata (71) of Japan finished a further two shots back in tied fourth. The slightly built Kawamura turned in 36 but recovered with a sensational back nine highlighted by important birdies on 17 and 18 to end his campaign on nine-under-par 275.

Too good: Masahiro Kawamura, right, with tournament chairman Kazuhiro Tsuga.

The victory capped a bitter-sweet season for the young Japanese as he had struggled with a thumb injury earlier in the year which resulted in seven missed cuts in nine appearances on home soil. “This win is really big,” Kawamura said. “Obviously it is the biggest thing to happen in my career. Now I get to play in Japan and on the Asian Tour as well. I’m sure it will brighten my future and help me improve. “I injured my left thumb earlier in the year and I really struggled with that. It was

frustrating so I’m glad that I bounced back from that injury and win,” he said. Park needed a birdie on the last to force a playoff but misjudged his 10 foot putt. The Korean, who has yet to miss a cut in Japan this season, said the turning point came when he three putted for bogey on 16 and dropped another shot on the next hole. “Maybe next time I will have better luck. I’m still playing okay so that’s the positive I can take back from this week,” said Park who capped his fourth runner-up result in Japan this season. Yang, who defeated Tiger Woods at the 2009 US PGA Championship, recovered from a triple bogey on 11 with three straight birdies from 13 but it was not enough to edge Kawamura. “I played good. I only missed my drive on the 11th hole and dropped three shots there,” Yang said. “My game is in great shape at the moment and I’m happy with where it is heading.” Liang, a two-time Asian Tour winner, secured his second consecutive top-five result in Japan after trading five birdies against two bogeys.

Australia claims 10th Nomura Cup Australia cruised to a nineshot victory with the best team score to successfully defend their Nomura Cup title at Santiburi Country Club in Thailand.

The Australians posted a final round 201 for a total of 828 to beat Korea in second place. Hosts Thailand finished in third place with China fourth. Sharing the lead overnight,

the Australians consolidated their position when all players finishing under par for the day. New South Welshman Cameron Davis fired his best round of the championship with a six-under par 66 while Victorian Geoff Drakeford finished with a 67 and Queenslanders Taylor MacDonald and Aaron Wilkin fired 68 and 69 respectively.

Both MacDonald and Drakeford shared the individual honours. It was Australia’s tenth victory at the championship since it was first held in 1963. The Asia-Pacific Teams Championship, the Nomura Cup, is a biennial competition rotated among the Asia-Pacific region. It is conducted by the AsiaPacific Golf Confederation with

each team consisting of four players, contesting 18 holes of stroke play for four days. In each round, the total of the scores from each team constitutes the team score for the round. The four-day (72-hole) total is the team’s score for the championship. The 2015 Nomura Cup will be staged in the United Arab Emirates. DECEMBER 2013 ❘ APGC Newsletter ❘ 3

A referee’s point of view R&A rules manager Claire Hagan compiled a blog about her experiences as a referee at the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship at Nanshan, China, in September. Here are some excerpts from her observations.

The 2013 Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship was only the fifth staging of the event, but with the success of previous winners such as Hideki Matsuyama (2010 and 2011 champion) and Guan Tianlang (2012 champion), the event is already one of the highest profile amateur events. This year 118 golfers from 34 countries competed for the title along with a place in the 2014 Masters Tournament and International Final Qualifying for the 2014 Open Championship. My colleague Ed Johnson (manager, Amateur Championships) and I were fortunate to be invited to assist the chief referee Greg Fitzhardinge, from Australia, with the course marking, course set-up and refereeing during

the Championship. During our first look around the course on the Sunday afternoon it was immediately obvious that this was no ordinary amateur event. The Championship would have the largest TV audience of any amateur golf event in the world. From a rules point of view that meant many of the challenges of professional tour events would also have to be faced here, with TV towers, leaderboards, TV cables, advertising boards, hospitality tents and so on, all to cater for in the Local Rules. Greg, Ed and I spent most of Monday and Tuesday finishing off the course marking (there were numerous water hazards and lateral water hazards to stake and line), writing the Local Rules and trying to communicate with the greenkeeping staff regarding what we needed. The number of English speakers in this part of China is limited, and our Chinese even more limited, but fortunately several of the other referees spoke

the language and were able to act as interpreters for us once they arrived on site. On the Wednesday evening there was a players’ meeting, and it was decided to take this opportunity to give a short pace of play presentation. The presentation included showing a film clip to help to explain the pace of play condition which would be in place for the event. Two previous winners of the AAC were penalised at major championships in 2013 and it was felt that it was important to implement a strict pace of play policy at this year’s Championship and to educate the players accordingly. The policy proved a great success during the Championship with the majority of players being extremely cooperative when asked to make up time on the group in front. Only five groups were timed on the first day with three bad times being given to separate players. Under the pace of play policy in force, this meant that each of these three

Boost for Diamond Cup The long-standing Diamond Cup Japan Tour tournament has been given a major upgrade. The tournament, which will now be known as the Asia Pacific Open Golf Championship Diamond Cup, has been elevated to regional Open Championship status. The move follows an agreement between the AsiaPacific Golf Confederation and

the Japan Golf Association with Mitsubishi Corporation and Kansai Telecasting Corporation to continue the APGC Open in coordination with the Japan Golf Tour and the Asian Tour. The Diamond Cup is one of the oldest tournaments in Japan, beginning in 1969 – and supported by Mitsubishi since its inauguration. It will be broadcast by Kansai TV and

Fuji TV. The tournament will be played at Ohtone Country Club West Course in Ibaraki from September 25-28, 2014. It will offer prize money of 150 million yen with 30 million yen going to the winner. APGC member countries will be allocated 20 amateur spots in the field while 100 professionals from the JGTO and the Asian Tour will also tee up.

players received a warning and were advised that an additional bad time would result in them receiving a one stroke penalty. No groups required to be timed during the final three rounds and 19 of the 21 groups completed their fourth and final round within the scheduled time. That was pretty good overall. The cold and windy conditions during the first two rounds resulted in only the champion, Lee Chang-woo of Korea, finishing the four rounds under par with a final score of three under. The 19- year-old will now go on to play in The 2014 Masters at Augusta and both he and runner up Shohei Hasegawa (Japan) will compete in Final Qualifying for The Open Championship. From a personal point of view it was a great experience to be involved in such a big multinational amateur event, while also getting the opportunity to meet, work with and learn from referees and other officials from around the world.

Oman gets in Oman is the newest member of the AsiaPacific Golf Confederation. The application from the Oman Golf Committee was approved by the recent APGC Annual Congress in Thailand. Oman becomes the 38th member of the APGC.

Asia-Pacific Golf Confederation

Chairman Dr David Cherry

Vice Chairman Mr Dilip Thomas

4 ❘ APGC Newsletter ❘ DECEMBER 2013

Secretary General Mr Taimur Amin

Treasurer Mr Philip Hassall

Honorary secretary Mr Kyungjae Lee

Championship Mr Zhang Xiaoning Committee chairman Mr Keisuki Muratsu

Mr Rungsid Luxsitanonda

Victorious: The New Zealanders won the Asia Pacific Senior Amateur Championship by three strokes.

NZ wins APGC Seniors New Zealand have narrowly defeated Australia in the teams section of the 2013 Asia Pacific Senior Amateur Championship at Montgomerie Links in Danang, Vietnam.

With the best four scores each day counting, the final totals saw the New Zealanders win by three strokes, with Frank Borren spearheading the victory after rounds of 70-77-74.

Englishman John Ambridge won the individual section by four shots, firing 72-73-70. The star for Australia was Peter King, who fired seven birdies in a final round of 69 that saw him take the runner-up prize in the individual section. Australians dominated the age section with Jack Parker winning the Over 70 age group, Denis Dale the over 65 age group and Peter King collecting the over 60 age group.

Fine form: Englishman John Ambridge won the individual section by four shots.

Goss looks to Masters after loss Australian Oliver Goss might not have won the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship but he will still be fighting for amateur honours at The Masters next April.

Korean Lee Chang-woo’s victory in the Championship at Nanshan International Golf Club in Shandong province, north China sealed his place at Augusta. Lee fired a steady one under par round of 70 to beat Shohei Hasegawa of Japan by three strokes. While the 19-year-old from Seoul receives an invitation to the Masters both he and Hasegawa will line up in final qualifying for the British Open. Australian players were again unsuccessful

with Victorian teenager Lucas Herbert the best after shooting 68 on Sunday to tie for fourth place, six shots behind Lee. Goss (72) finished one shot further back in seventh but is already in The Masters field after he made the final of the 2013 US Amateur Championship. The 19-year-old now hopes to play a practice round as early as next month and he wants to catch up with two of the game’s biggest names in April. “The plans are in motion already,” Goss told Fairfax. “I’m trying to arrange a practice round with Adam Scott and Sergio Garcia.” In the meantime he plans to return to the University of Tennessee on Tuesday.

Goss had moved into contention at Nanshan on Sunday with two early birdies to be one-over par and just three shots behind Lee. But he lost his rhythm with the driver in a disastrous three-hole stretch, his chances ruined by a triple bogey seven at the 10th hole. “It still would have been a lot to pull back. I could have easily got it to even or one under and put a little bit of pressure on him. Maybe he wouldn’t have run away with it like he did,” Goss said. The sixth Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship will be staged at Royal Melbourne Golf Club in October, 2014. DECEMBER 2013 ❘ APGC Newsletter ❘ 5

More British Open spots for APGC players up for grabs Players in the Asia-Pacific region will have more opportunities to qualify for the British Open after changes to international qualifying series.

Rather than stage specific qualifying events the R&A will offer places in the Open field through events on the world’s leading golf tours. The Open Qualifying Series will comprise 14 events in nine countries on five continents and will offer players the opportunity to qualify for golf’s oldest Major Championship at prestigious events on the PGA Tour, the European Tour, the PGA Tour of Australasia, the Japan Golf Tour and the Sunshine Tour. Nine qualifying places will be available on both the PGA and European Tours. Players will be able to qualify on the PGA Tour at each of the AT&T National, The Greenbrier Classic and the John Deere Classic*. In Europe, players will be able to qualify at the Irish Open, the Alstom Open de France and the Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open prior to The Open. The Qualifying Series began with the Emirates Australian Open. Qualifying places will also be available at the Mizuno Open on the Japan Golf Tour, The Open Qualifying Series – Thailand and the Joburg Open in South Africa. R&A chief executive Peter Dawson said: “This is a significant change to the qualifying process for The Open and one which will make the Championship as open as possible to players from around the world. “The new Open Qualifying Series will create an exciting build-up to The Open as players bid to secure their places in the weeks leading up to the Championship. “We believe it will enhance 6 ❘ APGC Newsletter ❘ DECEMBER 2013

Qualifying Series Event

Places Detail

Australia The Emirates Australian Open 3