The Asia-Pacific Team Championship-Nomura Cup, which is held every other year, opened at Sunrise Golf and Country Club in Taiwan's Taoyuan County on Tuesday for a four-day competition. A record high of 71 players from 18 countries will compete for the most honored title in Asia Pacific.
At a Monday conference, the Asia Pacific Golf Association unanimously chose Eiichiro Tsuji, the outgoing chairman, as the association's honorary chairman. It was also decided the 2011 amateur championship will be held in Fiji.
The conference was presided over by Michael Tate and Colin Phillips. Delegates chose Hur Kwang-Soo from South Korea to be the new chairman, and Australia's David Cherry as the deputy chairman. Malaysia's Thomas Lee will continue to act as the Asia Pacific Golf Association's chairman. |
During the opening day Tuesday
In addition, the conference also accepted the Pacific island country of Samoa Republic as a new member country. The country's delegate, Papalii John Ryan, said although they are from an island nation where golfing only recently got to be promoted as a national sport, they will more aggressively push golfing after obtaining their new membership at the APGC.
During the opening day Tuesday, each team will have four players participating in the competition, with the best three performers' scores making up the team's official score. The competition begins at 7 a.m. to start from the first and the tenth holes. There will be 24 units in total, with three players in each unit. The last unit will begin playing at 8:50 a.m. |
Over the past 22 championships
Monday was practice day for the players. Every player did an 18-hole practice game. A welcoming ceremony and party were held at the Sunrise Golf and Country Club Monday night, when Mr. Fun-Ming Lo, president of Chinese Taipei Golf Association, welcomed the players and urged them to make the best use of the golf club's good facilities.
Meanwhile, Mr. Tien-ya Hsu, director of the Nomura Cup Championship Committee and president of Sunrise Golf and Country Club, wished the coming week will leave the players a most unforgetable experience and also hoped the championship will continue to attract the top players in the world
Over the past 22 championships, Japan, Australia and Taiwan together won 20 titles, and the remaining two were won by India in 1973 and New Zealand in 1995.
Of the most recent four championships, New Zealand and South Korea each won the second place twice. |
Japan is another strong team
This year, Australia is still represented by its top players, including Tim Steward and Rick Kulacz, Rohan Blizzard and Andrew Dodt. But the team is expected to face strong competition from South Korea, which is represented by Bi-O Kim, Yeong-Su Kim and Seung-Yul Noh.
Japan is another strong team, represented by Yuki Ito, YukiUsami, Naoyuki Tamura and Shunsuke Sonoda. India has two top players, Joseph Chakola and Anirban Lahiri. Other teams, such as New Zealand, Taiwan and Mongolia, have also sent their best players to the championship. |
Nomura Cup Kicking off!