AusLeisure

With eased travel restrictions, Australia’s elite amateur golfers will return to representative competition at the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship and the Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific Championship in the United Arab Emirates next month.

Both of these events were cancelled in 2020 because of the COVID pandemic and travel restrictions, along with the World Amateur Teams Championship and various international tournaments, but the highly-rated Asia-Pacific championships are back on the calendar this year.

Twelve of Australia’s best players have been named for the championships in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, which carry the lure of invitations to play in 2022 golf majors for the winners – the Masters at Augusta National and the Open Championship at St Andrews for the men, and the AIG Women’s Open and the Evian Championship for the women.

Brad James, General Manager High Performance for Golf Australia notes “this represents an opportunity to compete when there hasn’t been much elite competition for these players because of the pandemic and the restrictions on travel.

“With those places in the professional majors on the line as well, I think that’s the reason why the players have been willing to make the sacrifices they are going to make by committing to coming home through quarantine.”

James explained the Asia-Pacific championships presented some of the best amateur golf in the world for the Australians to play in adding “There’s no stand-outs necessarily.They’ll all have a good chance and it’s potentially the best amateur event that they can play in, with the carrots that are attached to it and the experience that they can extract.”

The Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific Championship has been developed by The R&A and the Asia-Pacific Golf Confederation to unearth emerging talent and provide a pathway for Asia’s elite female amateurs to the international stage.

The winner earns invitations to play in two major championships – the AIG Women’s Open and The Amundi Evian Championship, as well as an exemption for the Augusta National Women’s Amateur.

US college star Maddison Hinson-Tolchard from Perth could be the stand-out in the Australian women’s team.

Hinson-Tolchard, 19, has made an outstanding start to her college career at Oklahoma State University after winning the Australian Junior Amateur and the Victorian Junior in 2018. She helped Oklahoma to the NCAA championship game this year.

Australia’s top-ranked female amateur, Perth’s Kirsten Rudgeley, is in the team for Abu Dhabi but is expected to withdraw because of the inability to guarantee a flight back to Australia, and the same applies to recent Keperra Bowl winner Cassie Porter of Queensland.

The 2019 US Mid Amateur champion Lukas Michel from Metropolitan Golf Club in Melbourne is in the men’s field, looking for another trip to the Masters at Augusta National to go with the spot he earned in 2020 as the Mid-Amateur champion. Michel, who will be the veteran of this team at 27, missed the cut at the Masters, shooting 76-74.

Queenslander Jed Morgan’s late call to turn professional and Louis Dobbelaar’s decision to attend the PGA Tour Latinoamerica tour school in the United States in the same week left two spots open on the men’s team. But South Australia’s US-based college star Lachlan Barker and Victorian Andre Lautee eagerly grabbed the available two places in the team from Australia’s allocation of six spots.

James explained the Asia-Pacific championships presented some of the best amateur golf in the world for the Australians to play in.

“There’s no stand-outs necessarily,” he said. “They’ll all have a good chance and it’s potentially the best amateur event that they can play in, with the carrots that are attached to it and the experience that they can extract.”

The Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific Championship runs from 10th-13th November at Abu Dhabi Golf Club.

The men’s Asia-Pacific Championship is from 3rd-6th November at Dubai Creek Golf and Yacht Club. Past winners include Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama (twice), and Australians Curtis Luck (2016) and Anthony Murdaca (2014).

AUSTRALIAN TEAMS:

ASIA-PACIFIC AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP
Lachlan Barker (SA) 22
Andre Lautee (Victoria) 22
Lukas Michel (Victoria) 27
Connor McKinney (WA) 19
Hayden Hopewell (WA) 19
Haydn Barron (WA) 25

WOMEN’S ASIA-PACIFIC GOLF CHAMPIONSHIP
Isabelle Taylor (Queensland) 20
Kirsten Rudgeley (WA) 20*
Cassie Porter (Queensland) 19*
Kelsey Bennett (NSW) 21
June Song (NSW) 19
Maddison Hinson-Tolchard (WA) 19

*Subject to travel arrangements

Related Articles

21st October 2021 - Golf Australia partners with Cancer Council for golf marathon to raise awareness of skin cancer

14th October 2021 - Golf Australia cancels two Opens

12th October 2021 - Nine million Australians interested in Golf suggests huge potential to grow the game

22nd September 2021 - Vietnam’s Laguna Golf Lang Co reaffirms its status as one of Asia’s most sustainable clubs 

21st September 2021 - Golf Australia welcomes announcement on reopening of Melbourne courses

17th September 2021 - Australian Golf Foundation continues its Junior Girls Scholarship program for a second year

16th September 2021 - Golf New Zealand supports inaugural Leadership Award for women

8th September 2021 - Two Melbourne golf courses introduce vaccination policy

10th August 2021 - Golf industry veteran looks to grow the game in new role

18th July 2021 - Royal Queensland Golf Club confirmed as chosen host venue if Brisbane secures 2032 Olympics

12th July 2021 - Outback Queensland Masters attracts record number of amateur golfers

9th July 2021 - Golf ball recycling initiative supported by Australian Golf Industry Council

6th July 2021 - NIWA climate scientist works with Golf New Zealand to reassess golf course ratings

29th June 2021 - Golf Australia confirms Australian Open will be played in Sydney in 2021

29th June 2021 - New Singapore Golf Series to resume

28th June 2021 - GBA partners with membership funding company Pay As You Golf

9th June 2021 - PGA of Australia and Golf Australia develop new pathway for elite amateurs

13th May 2021 - Minjee Lee becomes first ‘graduate’ to help fund Golf Australia performance pathway

3rd May 2021 - Singapore golf tournament continues to benefit national amateurs

18th March 2021 - Singapore Golf Association launches new series of local professional golf events

13th March 2021 - Golf Australia highlight golf’s summer boom

---

Support our industry news service
We hope that you value the news that we publish so while you're here can we ask for your support?

As an independent publisher, we need reader support for our industry news gathering so ask that - if you don't already do so - you back us by subscribing to the printed Australasian Leisure Management magazine and/or our online news.