By John Huggan
DUBAI, U.A.E. — Creating heroes: It all starts here.

The slogan/motto/legend/promise that dominated just about every aspect of the landscape around the Dubai Creek Golf and Yacht Club is one the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship can more than justify, no matter the definition of choice. A stepping stone. A life-changing moment. Call it what you will, the premier amateur event in this vast region has, since its inception in 2009, provided the ultimate springboard for any number of successful careers.

Jumping forward from the trips to the Masters and the Open Championship that are the immediate rewards for AAC champions, as many as eight future PGA Tour winners— Cameron Smith, Cameron Davis, Lucas Herbert, Si-Woo Kim, Hideki Matsuyama, C.T. Pan, Satoshi Kodaira and K.H. Lee—are proud alumnus of the tournament that next year will become a teenager.

The most notable name on that list, of course, is that of Matsuyama, the current Masters champion. Winner of the Asia-Pacific Am in 2010 and again in 2011, the now 29-year-old is the first male from his golf-crazy nation to win one of the game’s four most important titles.

But here’s the thing. While the likes of Matsuyama and the latest champion, countryman Keita Nakajima, garner the vast majority of the headlines, the aims and aspirations of the AAC are actually more about the competitive also-rans than those luminaries at the top of the leader board. Together, the tournament organizers—the R&A and Augusta National Golf Club—tick more than that obvious box.

“There were two sets of people in the field here at Dubai Creek this week,” says R&A chief executive Martin Slumbers, who, along with ANGC chairman Fred Ridley, attended all four days of competition. “One contains the players who are ready to win and find out if they are good enough to compete as professionals. But just as important for me and the values of the R&A … we want the game to grow, [and] this gives the rest of the field a glimpse into the level they have to get to. And to see how far off they are from the very best.

“We had countries here with sophisticated development systems, nations like Australia, India and South Korea. But we also had others who don’t have anything like that. For me, the biggest value in this event is seen in that second group, more than the guys who have gone on and won.”

Indeed, there is no doubting the R&A’s commitment. Before the COVID-19 pandemic brought the world to a halt, the St. Andrews-based organization held the inaugural AAC Academy at the Sentosa Golf Club in Singapore. A one-week comprehensive training camp, the aim was to enhance the capabilities of players from developing golf nations in an effort to advance their skills and, in time, create the buzz word used by many associated with this event and its counterpart in the Latin America Amateur Championship—“heroes.”

“We brought some of the best coaches, nutritionists and sports scientists from around the region, and we exposed the players to all of that coaching,” Slumbers says. “Our overall intention was to help them move up and give them the skills to be able to fulfill their own destiny and their own skill level. We are fortunate in that we hail from a country where golf is well-developed. We see the Masters. We see the Open. And we all know players who have played in those big events. But when you come out here to Asia it is as if those majors are on a different planet. Now, through the AAC, we’ve put them on the same planet. All of the things that have taken 100 years back home have happened in 12 years here. We’ve accelerated the process.”

Photo courtesy of the R&A
In addition to holding the championship, the R&A has hosted an AAC Academy to help developing players receive access to better coaching and training.

That much is true, as evidenced by the reactions of Cambodia’s Pich Meta Peou and Vanseiha Seng. Both were part of the Singapore experiment, and both were in Dubai as better people and players as a result. Neither made the 36-hole cut, but the looks on their faces and the enthusiasm in their voices as they described their experience is proof enough of the success of the R&A’s mission.

“The Academy and this event has been so important to my development,” says Seng, 28, the only man who has played in all 12 AACs. “I feel I am a completely different player now. I knew how to hit the golf ball, but playing in the AAC and especially being part of the AAC Academy taught me such crucial elements of the game like course management, warm-up routines, physical training, what can be done with the equipment—the list goes on. Plus, to play at this level is so exciting. They make us feel so special when we play. And it has taken me to so any great places. I have made so many friends with players from other countries like Oman, Bhutan and Mongolia.”

‘We had countries here with sophisticated development systems, nations like Australia, India and South Korea. But we also had others who don’t have anything like that. For me, the biggest value in this event is seen in that second group, more than the guys who have gone on and won.’ —Martin Slumbers, R&A CEO

Elsewhere, definite progress is being made on the playing side. The starting line-up at Dubai Creek contained 93 players from 29 countries. The halfway cut, which fell at a creditable two over par, knocked the number of competitors down to 50. And within them, 15 nations were represented. The usual suspects like Australia, China, Japan and South Korea were still around, as one might expect, but so were Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Indonesia and the Philippines.

“Any time you get on a plane to go to the AAC is special. It is just such an unbelievable opportunity,” says Leon D’Souza from Hong Kong who finished T-31 on one under par. “This is an unbelievable event, one that helps so many players at so many levels. It is always played on a great course. And outside of the event, what Augusta National and the R&A are doing to grow golf in Asia is amazing. The game is growing in places where it was almost unheard of, say, a decade ago, which is hugely important. I love to look around at this event and see guys who will only ever play in amateur events. For them, this must be such a special tournament and a great week, one that might just change their lives. This is one of the best weeks in amateur golf anywhere.”

That’s message was echoed several times last week. It was impossible to find a player who wasn’t grateful for the chance to play and appreciative of the event’s back-story. Ahmed Skaik from the host UAE was typical.

“It’s pretty inspirational to be playing in the same event Hideki won,” says Skaik, who hit the opening tee shot in Wednesday’s first round. “Now he is Masters champion. It just shows how, if you play big events and keep practicing, how far you can get in the game.”

Slumbers noted that the 2021 tournament was bound for Royal Melbourne but COVID prevented the Australian course from host, with Dubai stepping in to help. The venue change, however, proved inspirational in other ways.

Charles Laberge
The hope is that Nakajima’s win in 2021 can impact future generations of Asian players to follow his path, just as past AAC champ Hideki Matsuyama did for Nakajima.

“It’s been more of an eye-opener to come here and see how good golf can be in the UAE,” Slumbers says. “Dubai and the other emirates can help us grow the game. The world is going to be different post-COVID, and this part of the world is going to be more important than before.

“We are going to see the platforms develop here at a rapid rate,” Slumbers continues. “For the next generation of players. I’ve had conversations here. They want our help in making golf more than tourism and the European Tour. How can we make it a sport for a wider cross-section of the population. I’m delighted to help with something I’m not sure we would have done quite so readily pre-COVID. Our focus was maybe elsewhere.”

‘It’s pretty inspirational to be playing in the same event Hideki won. … It just shows how, if you play big events and keep practicing, how far you can get in the game.’ —Ahmed Skaik, AAC participant from the U.A.E.

Ahmad Skaik.

Speaking of which, the third Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific Championship takes place this week at the Abu Dhabi Golf Club. First played in 2018, the event (in retrospect) got off to something off a flying start. The inaugural winner was Atthaya Thitikul, who topped the Order of Merit on the Ladies European Tour this year, the Thai emerging from a five-way playoff that also included the current U.S. Women’s Open champion Yuka Saso and ANA Inspiration winner, Patty Tavatanakit.

“Women’s golf has always been strong in Asia, but there is another wave of great players on the way,” Slumbers says. “This week will be interesting. The winner gets into the AIG Women’s Open, the Evian Masters and the ANA Inspiration. We have pretty much covered the globe with our event and the Latin America championships. It’s pure, proper golf. Business pays for it, but it is proper golf.”

On and off the course, he could easily have added.

The post What the Asia-Pacific Amateur is doing to make good on its mission to inspire golf’s next generation appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By John Huggan
DUBAI, U.A.E. — Right from the start, he was the man to beat in the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship. And, in the end, no one did. It took the world’s leading amateur, Keita Nakajima, 74 holes to get the job done, but the 21-year-old from Japan was just good enough to see off a stream of final-round challengers, the last being Taichi Kho of Hong Kong in a playoff after the pair tied at 14-under 270 in regulation at the Dubai Creek course.

The numbers make impressive reading, adding this latest title to an ever-lengthening and increasingly impressive list of victories. Already, Nakajima has won the Australian Amateur, the Japanese Amateur (after four runners-up finishes), two gold medals at the Asian Games and, against the professionals, the Panasonic Open on the Japanese Tour. And now he can add a trip to Augusta, Ga., to his 2022 itinerary. Already exempt into the U.S. Open and the Open Championship through his status as World No. 1, the student at Nippon Sports Science University will be invited to join compatriot and defending champion, Hideki Matsuyama, at next year’s Masters.

Which will come as something of a relief. Nakajima, the third Japanese golfer after Matsuyama and Takumi Kanaya to be hailed the No. 1 amateur on the planet—in recognition of which he received the Mark H. McCormack medal on Friday evening—was desperate to follow their lead for a second time by winning this championship.

“Takumi has become a good friend and mentor to me, and we played on the national team together for some time,” he said. “He once told me to ‘confront yourself and keep challenging.’ I really like that and will try and follow his advice. So I’m excited and I’m very happy to follow Hideki and Takumi. I have three major tournaments next year, and I can’t wait. It’s so nice. I think it’s an honour to attend this event, and I’m so happy to win. It’s a great tournament. I had a great week.”

That he did, one that brought with it those big and well-earned rewards at the close of a final day in which the leading 10 finishers made 56 birdies and an eagle between them over the 6,795-yard course. Nakajima made six of those birdies (seven if we include the clinching birdie on the second playoff hole) and survived all sorts of ups-and-downs over the course of an ever-changing four-and-a-bit hours he spent hitting 68 shots and pulling his own trolley.

Winning in style ?

Showing why @keita_nakajima2 is the World Number One ? pic.twitter.com/XqlUCTPIEC

— Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship (@AAC_Golf) November 6, 2021

Indeed, Nakajima’s closing effort was hardly without error. A dropped shot at the par-4 sixth was a mere blip given the four-shot advantage he enjoyed early. But the double-bogey 6 he perpetrated on the ninth spelled trouble with a capital T. Suddenly all kinds of players were given hope where previously there had been close to none.

Still, it is in such moments that true class tells. And Nakajima stepped up, playing the back-nine in three under par to set up the playoff with Kho, who had followed up his third-round 64 with an almost-as-nifty 65.

It was Kho who hit the better drive and the better approach on the first playoff hole, a return to Dubai Creek’s par-4 18th. But Nakajima, as he had done on the last hole of regulation, made a matching par from the waste area right of the narrow fairway. And it was from there again, one hole later, that the destination of the trophy was eventually decided.

From a lie that was less appetizing than those Nakajima had been faced with, Kho’s attempted approach caught the lip and finished in the water. As it turned out, the champion’s final birdie was less than vital. Had the ball missed the cup, Nakajima, second behind Kanaya in this event three years ago, had two more putts with which to clinch his victory.

“I was up against the lip,” said Kho, a college golfer at Notre Dame, of his ultimately unveiling attempt to find the 18th green for third time in less than an hour. “It wasn’t a great lie, and I just caught it a hair thin, the ball hitting the top of the bunker. But if I had it to do again, I would pick the same shot, have the same process. I did everything I could to hit a good shot, but it just didn’t turn out my way. I have no regrets looking back. Today’s back nine, even the playoff, really gives me a lot of confidence going forward. I did a lot of things that I know that I can, but it’s another to actually do it under pressure. I feel really proud of myself.”

Graham Uden
Hong Kong’s Taichi Kho, after closing rounds of 64-65, took Nakajima to a playoff, but a watery approach on the second extra hole cost him.

A bit further down the leader board, the defending champion, China’s Yuxin Lin, pulled up in a tie for seventh place, which was not how it was supposed to go for the 21-year-old who is a junior at the University of Florida. The head-to-head battle he was seemingly destined to have with Nakajima—the pair played alongside each other in three of the four rounds—never really materialized.

Put it down to Lin’s version of a “triple-double.” The first of those came as early as the second hole, where his approach found the water fronting the green; the second arrived at the 15th, the result of a lost ball off the tee. Two pars at those holes and Lin would have been holding the trophy at this event for the third time.

That honor belongs to Nakajima, a young man who started playing at the age 6 after watching Tiger Woods on television and who personifies the phrase “star of the future.” Already he is playing golf on a level that is competitive at the highest level. Only a few weeks ago, he finished a creditable T-28 in his PGA Tour debut at the Zozo Championship. His score there matched the likes of Olympic champion Xander Schauffele, Joaquin Niemann and Charley Hoffman and was better than Rickie Fowler, Olympic bronze medallist, C.T. Pan, and Will Zalatoris, runner-up in this year’s Masters.

So the kid can play, something he did better than anyone else this week.

The post A simple motivation propelled World No. 1 Keita Nakajima to the biggest win of his young career appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Kent Gray
That Bo Jin leads the 12th Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship through 36 holes comes as no surprise when you discover the proud institutional and unlikely local course knowledge the Chinese teen has in his armoury.

The 19-year-old from Beijing fired a bogey-free, seven-under 64 at Dubai Creek Golf & Yacht Club Thursday to rocket to the summit of the leaderboard at -8, a shot ahead of five players including Japan’s world amateur No.1 Keita Nakajima (68), Australian Connor McKinney (65) and the Korean trio of Sam Choi (68), Baekjun Kim (66) and Wooyoung Cho (68).

Jin is the younger brother of 2015 Asia-Pacific Amateur champion Cheng so knows exactly what it takes to win the event and all the benefits of doing so, namely invites to the Masters and The Open.

RELATED: UAE No.1 Amhad Skaik looks to cash-in on unexpected weekend play at the Asia-Pacific Amateur

The Oklahoma State University sophomore is also good buddies with Cowboys golf team-mate Rayhan Thomas, the Dubai-prodigy who just happens to be the owner of the Creek course record, a giddy circuit in 61 strokes during a 2017 MENA Tour event that included a world-record tying nine successive birdies. Don’t forget either that Thomas was runner-up at the 2018 ACC representing India so knows a thing or two about contesting in the region’s premier event too.

“I have learned a lot from Cheng but when we get to the golf course, I definitely want to beat him,” said Jin, who made five homeward birdies in his second round.

“When he won the championship [at Clearwater Bay Golf Club in Hong Kong], I was so excited because it meant that I could go to the Masters at Augusta National Golf Club along with him. Obviously, he hasn’t told me much about this golf course but I get plenty of good insight into life and golf from him and yes, I want to win the championship like he did.”

Thomas’ advice, meanwhile, has thus far proved invaluable.

“Rayhan is a great guy and a very good friend of mine. We sat down before coming here, and he gave me a lot of good advice, like how grainy the greens become and how to putt on them. And how the course is rather short and why I should practice my wedges more than my long irons, and things like that. It definitely played a role in my round today.”

On his round of 64, Jin added: “I just played really well. Putting wasn’t the best but I hit it pretty well and pretty close to the hole and grabbed one or two on the front nine. Then on the back nine everything started rolling in, which was pretty awesome.

“The biggest change from the first round was the double bogey I made on the ninth hole yesterday. It was mental mistakes really. And I am happy that I did not repeat them today.”

Defending champion Yuxin Lin of China made a double bogey on the par-4 closing hole and dropped down to four-under-par 138, four strokes off the lead.

Exactly 50 players from 15 countries, including the UAE’s Ahmad Skaik and Jordan’s Shergo Kurdi, made the cut at two over par. Fellow MENA Tour regular Arjun Gupta missed the weekend after rounds of 75-73 to finish +6.

The post Dubai prodigy Rayhan Thomas has helped a Chinese teen with family history to the halfway lead at the Asia Pacific appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

The South Korean actually made two splashes on the 2nd hole at Dubai Creek Golf & Yacht Club en-route to a potentially week-ruining snowman eight on the tricky par-4.

RELATED: World No.1 and defending champion ominously positioned in seven-way Asia-Pacific lead at Dubai Creek

Thankfully Lee recovered to sign for a 73, just two over par, and isn’t out of it with the leaders, all seven of them, at -4.

Check out the footage of Lee’s “little event” here:

South Korea’s Jun Min Lee made a splash during Round 1 of #AAC2021 ? We caught up with him after his round to learn more ? pic.twitter.com/xkBqkherMA

— Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship (@AAC_Golf) November 3, 2021

At least Lee could see the funny side of things afterwards.

“So I had a little event on No. 2. Fell in the water,” he said.

“It was a poor tee shot and poor layup and I was stuck behind the rocks and I was trying to get it out in the front right of the green or front right fringe and I was like, man, I’ve got a stance, I’ve got this, I’ve got this,” he explained later.

“So, I’m over it, I’m over it, getting ready, hit the shot and next thing I know, I throw my club and I’m falling back, ball is in the water.  Overall, it’s a pretty eventful start to the day on hole 2.”

Worst of all, as the coverage shows, Lee had to jump back in to retrieve his doubly un-cooperative wedge.

Interviewer: So yourself and the ball, unfortunately, went in the drink?

“And my wedge. So I get out, and the guys are like, hey, your wedge is still back in there.  I’m really wet at that point, so all I’ve got to do is get back in, grab my wedge and get back out.

“If you base your whole entire day off bad shots, you’re never going to be successful.”

Interviewer: And you walked off with?

“An eight. Big number.”

Thankfully Lee’s day got better as he eventually dried out, even if his ball kept wanting a swim.

Photo: ACC

“I was five over through three.  Went quad, bogey and rest of the day went pretty well.  Shot 2 over total.  Made a couple little mistakes.  Hit it in the water on 18 to finish.  Made a bogey there.  But other than that, I think I had like five or six birdies after that and two bogeys, two or three bogeys.  So had a decent round I guess, went from 5 over to 2 over. “

Admirably a member of life’s half glass full camp, Lee is confident he can get his title tilt back on track on Thursday.

“One hundred percent, yeah. I think you can’t really get rid of bad shots. Bad shots just kind of happen. So if you base your whole entire day off bad shots, you’re never going to be successful.

“You’ve got to look at the positives of the day, and I think I putted pretty well for the most part. Hit really good iron shots, and had one bad hole. So, I’m pretty confident.”

Confident and cunning if his answer to a question about aiming away from the water on the 2nd is any indication from here on in.

“I guess so.”

The post WATCH this South Korean amateur quite literally make the biggest splash on day 1 at the Asia-Pacific appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Kent Gray
World amateur No.1 Keita Nakajima and defending champion Yuxin Lin will begin Thursday’s second round right where they want to be but probably didn’t count on quite so much company atop the 12th Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship leaderboard.

Japan’s Nakajima and China’s Lin, both 21, opened with contrasting four-under 67s at Dubai Creek Golf & Yacht Club on Wednesday to share the lead with five others: Alexander Yang (Hong Kong), Jimmy Zheng (New Zealand), Wooyoung Cho, WAGR No.14 Sam Choi (both South Korea) and Australian Lukas Michel, the 2019 U.S. Mid-Amateur champion.

RELATED: Watch this South Korean amateur quite literally make the biggest splash on day 1 at the Asia-Pacific

Michel’s countryman Hayden Hopewell, Hong Kong’s Taichi Kho, China’s Aaron Du and Chinese Taipei’s Chi-Chun Chen occupied T-8 place at -3 while UAE No.1 Amhad Skaik and Jordan trailblazer Shergo Kurdi are among 12 players on -2 after a breezy day that saw 33 of the 93-strong field better par.

The projected cut – encompassing the top 50 players and ties – sat at +1 overnight.

Teeing off together at 09:05 local time, Lin and Nakajima could not have had more different starts to their rounds. Lin opened with a bogey, while Nakajima started with a birdie then made a double bogey on the very next hole when his tee shot went out of bounds by inches.

Undeterred by the setback, the Japanese star fought back with six birdies in the next 11 holes to claim sole possession of the lead at one stage, before a late bogey on the 16th pegged him back.

“I was very happy with the way I managed the golf course today,” said Nakajima who is aiming to become the third Japanese player to win the Asia-Pacific Amateur after Hideki Matsuyama (2010 and 2011) and Takumi Kanaya (2018).

Keita Nakajima

“That’s something I want to keep on doing. The putting was also good. I made some good ones and then I missed a few short ones,” said Nakajima.

“I really enjoyed playing with Yuxin. He made some good birdies on the front nine and I also followed him. I did not pay attention to his scores but if I am tied with the defending champion, it’s always a good thing. There’s a lot of golf to be played so we will see.”

The bogey on the first was Lin’s only error. He made four birdies before the turn and added another on the 17th hole.

“I thought I played pretty solid today. It was not the best start, but I stayed pretty patient out there and hit some good shots on the front nine,” said Lin who hopes to become the events first three time champion after winning in 2017 and 2019.

“I am just trying to stick to the game plan and just stay patient out there.  Everyone is going to make mistakes, so just stay calm and ready for the next shot and really just give my everything on every shot.”

[divider] [/divider]

THEY SAID IT…

Alexander Yang (Hong Kong) on eagles on the 4th and 13th en-route to a 67
“I think everything just lined up for those two eagles.  I hit a great drive, great approach shot on the green and just made a longer putt. I played solid, so I’m happy about it. My strategy on the golf course will stay the same as it was today.  It worked today, so let’s just keep going with it.”

Sam Choi (South Korea) on recovering from a tough start to finish on 67

“I started out really, really badly actually. I hit zero fairways the first five holes, and then I kind of figured it out along the way. On No. 2, I hit an 8-iron to six feet from the bunker 163 out, and made birdie and on 5, the par 3, I hit the same thing, an 8-iron, 163 to two feet and made birdie. After that, I hit some really good iron shots coming in and made really good putts, too.”

Lukas Michel (Australia) on also tying the lead despite a struggle off the tee

“I definitely didn’t have my best driving performance but the rest of my game was really solid. My chipping, putting and approach play was good. I got lucky a few times with driver but I think I was due that. It was not great and when the wind picked up I started to miss more. It was solid early but coming down the stretch it was a struggle and as we know, you need to drive the last two holes well and I didn’t.  But I managed to salvage pars and that was good.”

The post World No.1 and defending champion ominously positioned in seven-way Asia-Pacific lead at Dubai Creek appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Kent Gray
While he undoubtedly shares the field-wide dream of earning invites to The Masters at Augusta National in April and July’s milestone 150th Open Championship at St Andrews, Amhad Skaik’s reality at the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship is very much in the here and now.

The UAE No.1 has been handed the honour of hitting the opening shot at the 12th edition of the region’s pre-eminent amateur event at Dubai Creek Golf & Yacht Club. He’ll do so at 7.15am on Wednesday, the first of 93 players looking to emulate the likes of two-time former champion Hideki Matsuyama at the 72-hole strokeplay event by becoming Asia-Pacific champion with its two major benefits.

“It is an honour…for Dubai to host the tournament, and for me to be hitting the opening shot of the tournament. It is very special. I’m just excited to get going, and it is good to go out first,” said the 24-year-old left-hander.

Like many in the field, Skaik has plenty of experience but little recent competition play to draw on after the obvious impact of the pandemic on golf’s global amateur calendar.

“My form is pretty good. This is my second tournament in six months. So, let’s see how that goes,” he said.

“The AAC is a very big tournament, and it means a lot to me to do well, especially here in my country. I’ve played the event three times and didn’t play as well as I wanted, so I’m hoping that I’ll make the cut and play much better than before.”

Skaik, who will be flying the UAE flag alongside Khalid Yousuf, Khalifa Al Masaood and Rashid Al Emadi this week, is looking for a fast start.

“In terms of conditions, I think the ball will fly a bit faster in the morning. The Creek course can be a little windy in the afternoon but over the first two rounds we are going to get exposure to both morning and afternoon golf so it is not going to make such a difference. I’m playing pretty good, let’s see how it goes.”

HISTORY: UAE No.1 Ahmad Skaik gets the 12th Asia Pacific Amateur Championship underway at Dubai Creek Golf & Yacht Club. It is the first time the UAE has hosted the prestigious event.

The post UAE No.1 Ahmad Skaik gets 12th Asia-Pacific Amateur at Dubai Creek underway appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

In a huge coup for the UAE, the Emirates Golf Federation has won hosting rights to the delayed 12th edition of the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship (AAC). Dubai Creek Golf & Yacht Club will host the prestigious championship from November 3-6 with the champion of the 72-hole strokeplay event to earn starts at the 2022 Masters and the 150th Open Championship at the Home of Golf next July.

The Asia-Pacific Golf Confederation (APGC), the Masters Tournament and The R&A made the joint announcement on Wednesday in a decision that is set to make Dubai Golf the temporary epicentre of the amateur game for the next two years.

Another of Dubai Golf’s properties, Jumeirah Golf Estates, will host the World Amateur Teams Championships in 2023 with the 32nd Eisenhower Trophy (men) and 31st Espirito Santo Trophy (women) to be played on JGE’s Fire course.

Wednesday’s announcement comes after the 12th Asia-Pacific Amateur, originally planned for Royal Melbourne in Australia last October and then rescheduled for Sentosa Golf Club in Singapore this October, were aborted due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Created in 2009, the AAC was established to further develop amateur golf in the Asia-Pacific region and boasts freshly-minted Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama as a two-time champion. The 2021 championship will mark the first edition held in the UAE, one of the APGC’s 42 member countries.

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.

“We are grateful for the support of the Emirates Golf Federation and Dubai Creek Golf & Yacht Club, and we are committed to working closely with all involved to stage this year’s championship with responsible protocols in place so we can provide this life-changing opportunity safely to these deserving players. Dubai Creek’s Championship Course will enhance the tradition of world-class venues that have hosted this championship, and we look forward to showcasing the Asia-Pacific’s top-ranked amateurs this fall.”

Opened in 1993, Dubai Creek’s Championship Course features an 18-hole, par-71 layout originally designed by Karl Litten before its redesign in 2004, led by Thomas Bjorn. 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.

“After being part of the AAC for many years as a member of the APGC, we are excited to welcome this prestigious championship to the UAE for the first time,” said His Excellency Shaikh Fahim Bin Sultan Al Qasimi, Chairman of the Emirates Golf Federation.

“This opportunity means a great deal to the Asia-Pacific’s many talented amateurs. We are honoured to support the APGC, the Masters Tournament and The R&A in their efforts to conduct a safe event and advance our shared mission of spurring golf’s growth and development.”

“The AAC annually brings together the leading amateurs from across the region, and the world, and we are proud to be selected by the Founding Partners as the host of this year’s event,” said

Dubai Golf CEO Chris May said the Creek was proud to be entrusted with such an important event.

“Our Championship Course will present both a challenging and inspiring test for the players, and we look forward to highlighting their talent and contributing to the AAC’s impact on the game,” May said.

China’s Lin Yuxin, who won the 2017 (Royal Wellington) and 2019 (Sheshan International Golf Club) ACCs and went on to cash-in by making the cut at last month’s 149th Open at Royal St George’s, will aim to become the first three-time winner at The Creek.

“It’s a wonderful tournament that has given me the opportunity to play in both the Masters and The Open, for which I’m very grateful,” said the left-hander, 16th in the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR).

The post Dubai Creek set to host 2021 Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.