Amateur Golf
The first international tournament in Asia, after over a year, was announced for November as the Asia-Pacific Golf Confederation (APGC) announced the 12th Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship (AAC) from November 3-6, 2021 at Dubai Creek Golf & Yacht Club (Championship Course) in Dubai.
The Asia Pacific Amateur gives the winner an entry as an amateur into the Augusta Masters tournament in April 2022 and has been an incredible motivation to aspiring Asian players for the past decade.
The event which is supported by The Masters Tournament, and The R&A of St Andrews had cancelled the 2020 edition due to COVID-19 pandemic.
Taimur Hassan Amin, Chairman of the APGC, Fred Ridley, Chairman of the Masters Tournament, and Martin Slumbers, Chief Executive of The R&A, said in a joint statement:
“This year’s historic win at the Masters Tournament by Hideki Matsuyama, a two-time Asia-Pacific Amateur champion, underscored the importance of this event as a platform for the game’s development and rising talent in the region.”
The course has previously hosted the 1999 and 2000 Dubai Desert Classic and the Mena Tour’s Dubai Creek Open, where 2018 AAC runner-up Rayhan Thomas shot a course-record 61 in 2017. Most recently, Dubai Creek hosted The Dubai Championship on the World Amateur Tour last December.
The return of international amateur golf to the region, may open the doors for other major tournaments to resume soon after.