Rishi Narain (centre) celebrates Bonallack Trophy win with his team in Spain last year
A new chapter in the history of the Bonallack Trophy and Patsy Hankins Trophy will be written when Al Hamra Golf Club plays host to the 2025 events.
Staged biennially, the Ryder Cup style match play event, The Bonallack Trophy contested by teams representing the Asia-Pacific Golf Confederation (APGC) against their counterparts from the European Golf Association (EGA) was announced by the Asia Pacific Golf Confederation to be held at Al Hamra Golf Club in Ras Al Khaimah, in the UAE.
Featuring the best amateur golfers from the two regions, the 12th staging of the Bonallack Trophy and the fourth version of the Patsy Hankins Trophy ( for women) will be held from January 8-10, 2025.
Among the star names to have appeared in the Bonallack Trophy since its inception in 1998 are Cameron Smith, Geoff Ogilvy, Min Woo Lee, Hideki Matsuyama, Takumi Kanaya, Kiradech Aphibarnrat for the Asia-Pacific, Jon Rahm, Justin Rose, Rory McIlroy, Shane Lowry, Danny Willett and Francesco Molinari for Europe.
At the last edition of the Bonallack Trophy, staged in August 2023 in Spain, APGC Team non-playing captain Rishi Narain led his 12 member men’s team to a historic victory against Team Europe.
Underlying the quality of players at the tournament, several members of Rishi’s Asia Pacific amateur squad have made a successful transition to professional golf. Cho Woo-young from South Korea, Harrison Crowe from Australia, and Yuta Suguira all finished within the top 35 at the Asian Tour Final Qualifying in January, earning their full playing rights on the Asian Tour.
In addition, Sampson Zheng Yunhe from China has secured his PGA TOUR Americas card, previously known as PGA TOUR Latinoamérica. Zheng recently graduated from the University of California, Berkeley, and achieved a notable 14th place on the PGA Tour University rankings. This program identifies top college golfers in the U.S. and provides them with career pathways through PGA Tour-affiliated tours.
Yubin Jang from Korea, currently ranked 164th in the Official World Golf Rankings (OWGR), turned professional last October after a remarkable 2023 season. Jang won three times on the Korean PGA Tour, including the co-sanctioned KPGA Gunsan CC Open in August. He also clinched a Gold medal at the Hangzhou Asian Games and successfully defended his Gunsan CC Open title a month ago. These achievements have propelled him to 25th on the Asian Tour rankings and first on the Korean PGA rankings.
Japan’s Yuta Suguira turned professional after winning the Dunlop Phoenix Tournament by three shots, an event on the Japan Golf Tour. Suguira also competed in the Asian Tour Qualifying, finishing tied-33rd to earn his full playing rights. He now splits his time between the Japan and Asian Tours. This year, Suguira added another victory to his resume with a win at the Japan PGA Championship in July, his first win as a pro, elevating him to second on the Japan Golf rankings.
The captaincy and team for the 2025 Bonallack Trophy is yet to be announced, but undoubtedly, we will see future pro superstars in the line up yet again.
The 2023 Asia-Pacific Team for the Bonallack Trophy 2023 –
Joshua Bai (New Zealand); Jack Buchanan (Australia); Cho Woo-young (Korea); Harrison Crowe (Australia); Taichiro Ideriha (Japan); Jang Yu-bin (Korea); Carl Corpus ( Philippines); Lin Chuan-tai (Chinese Taipei); Nguyen Ahn Minh (Vietnam); Yuta Sugiura (Japan); Malcolm Ting (Malaysia); Sampson Zheng Yunhe (China).
Photo – APGC