Feature
the region’s ¿ nest players had responded to the championship in
the ¿ rst decade of its history. A full ¿ eld featured 120 top men’s
amateur talent representing 40 of the Asia Paci¿ c nations which
includes Australia and are a part of APGC. As many as 17 players in
the ¿ eld fell within the top 100 of the World Amateur Golf Ranking
led by China’s defending champion Lin Yuxin. Also in the ¿ eld was
Australia’s Min Woo Lee, ranked world no.12, the highest ranked
player in the region, Thailand’s Sadom Kaewkanjana, Asia’s number
one and ranked 14th in the world, Jin Cheng, China’s number one
amateur player ranked 20 in the world and Rayhan Thomas, the
highest ranked player from India and ranked 22 in the world ranking.
The Asia-Paci¿ c Amateur Championship is supported by six Proud
Partners – AT&T, 3M, Mercedes-Benz, Samsung, Delta and UPS –
and two Scoring Partners, Rolex and IBM.
It was so heartening to see Fred Ridley, Chairman of The
Augusta Masters and Martin Slumbers, Chief Executive of the Royal
& Ancient and their teams attend the AAC tournaments. They were
not there for a day or two as mere spectators but were present for
the entire week observing, motivating, advising and supporting the
players and the of¿ cials. They gave instant credibility, value and
reputation to the championship and made it worthwhile for all elite
amateur players throughout the region to compete in it. According
to Martin Slumbers, the AAC was an opportunity to inspire the next
generation of players and create a platform to develop the best players
in the region. Fred Ridley proclaimed that he was pleased to see the
impact the event has had on golf in the region. “We started with the
idea of creating heroes and role models so other young people would
be inspired to take up the game, and I think all of that is coming to
fruition” he observed.
I was fortunate to attend the Annual General Meeting of the APGC
Board which coincided with the tournament and was amazed to see
the attention to detail, the precision, the digni¿ ed and harmonious
manner in which it was conducted; an eye-opener indeed! A signi¿ cant
announcement at the meeting made Afghanistan, the latest nation in
the region to be included in the APGC
The New Tanjong Course
Sentosa Golf Club’s Andrew Johnston wears several hats at the club
and is instrumental in redesigning the two courses, Serapong and the
New Tanjong. From the age of 14 he had dreamt of becoming a golf
course architect and was fortunate to work as a Project Manager for
nine years with the legendary Arnold Palmer, globally renowned for
the role he played in growing the game of golf. Johnston went on to
help Palmer create many of his masterpieces.
The New Tanjong course that Johnston provided had all the drama
With the Legendary Tom Watson
Fred Ridley, Chairman, Augusta National Golf Club with the Indian Team
and excitement required to stage the prestigious tournament and when
challenged, it did not not just feel like a professional event, but also
played like one too! The course was in immaculate condition, prepared
and presented beautifully by Johnston which in turn rewarded good
play. The challenging course really put teeth into the game. The players
had to have a sound plan and the ability to master the greens. In fact
the greens were the biggest challenge. They were redone and designed
not with steep contours but made dif¿ cult with subtle movements that
players had to be really good at reading. The course did not lend itself
to someone who just hit far but to those players who had to be good
The whole team of Asia Pacific Championship
GolfPlus
NOVEMBER
2018
45