ASIAN TOUR Q SCHOOL ATTRACTS RECORD 761 ENTRIES

NEWS RELEASE FROM THE ASIAN TOUR

Kuala Lumpur: The Asian Tour Qualifying School has attracted an all-time high of 761 entries as players from across the globe vie for playing rights on the 2013 Asian Tour season.

The Tour hopefuls come from over 30 countries with Japan contributing the highest number of players with 129 entries, followed by Korea (121 players), Australia (77 players), United States (67 players), Thailand (56 players) and Chinese Taipei (52 players).

A total of 605 players will tee up for the First Stage Section A and Section B which will be played over the next two weeks in Hua Hin, Thailand.

The First Stage Section A will be held at the Imperial Lakeview Golf Club, Royal Thai Army Sports Centre and Banyan Golf Club from January 9 to 12 while the First Stage Section B will be held at the Imperial Lakeview and Springfield Royal Country Club from January 16 to 19.

After four rounds, the top 15% players from each venue will qualify for the all-important Final Stage from January 23 to 26. A total of 156 players are already exempted into the all-important Final Stage at the Imperial Lakeview and Springfield Royal where the top-40 finishers and ties will earn their Tour cards for 2013. 

Amongst the notable names in Stage One include the highly rated Rashid Khan of India, Won Joon Lee of Australia, former European Tour player Pelle Edberg of Sweden and 2000 Malaysian Open champion Yeh Wei-tze of Chinese Taipei.

For the Final Stage, the aspirants include Jake Higginbottom of Australia, who won the 2012 New Zealand Open as an amateur, Prince Hakeem Jefri of Brunei Darussalam, Alex Cejka of Germany, who is a four-time winner in Europe and a former PGA Tour regular, Han Chang-won of Korea, the 2009 Asian Amateur Championship winner and Kenichi Kuboya, a multiple winner in Japan.

The promising Khalin Joshi of India, Ratanon Wannasrichan of Thailand, Nguyen Thai Duong of Vietnam, Nicholas Fung of Malaysia, Eddie Lee of New Zealand, who won the 2000 Maekyung Open in Korea as an amateur, Thai sensation Atiwit Janewattananond and Chinese duo Hu Mu and Ye Jian-feng are among the players exempted into the Asian Tour Qualifying School Final Stage presented by Sports Authority of Thailand.

The record number of entries surpasses last year’s total of 580 players, signalling the immense appeal of the Asian Tour as the Qualifying School is the only pathway to compete on the Asian Tour and Asian Development Tour, which will be afforded with Official World Golf Ranking status from this year onwards.

Asian Tour Executive Chairman Kyi Hla Han said: “We are delighted to receive such an overwhelming response from players, both from Asia and around the world, for this year’s Qualifying School.

“The record numbers is another strong testament towards the Asian Tour’s stature in world golf and shows that global players view the Asian Tour as the destination to build their careers.

“As the official sanctioning body for professional golf in Asia and being a full member of the International Federation of PGA Tours, the Asian Tour will continue to deliver widespread playing opportunities and provide the best pathway for players in Asia to qualify for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio De Janeiro through the Official World Golf Ranking.” 

Other countries with players in the 2012 Asian Tour Qualifying School include Kevin Chun, who was part of the 2004 Eisenhower Trophy team for New Zealand, Indonesians Rory Hie and Benny Kasiadi and Wolmer Murillo of Venezuela and the 2011 European Amateur Champion Manuel Trappel of Austria.

In 2012, the Asian Tour offered 2,975 Official World Golf Ranking points to players, which will be used to determine the field for the Olympic Games in Rio De Janeiro in 2016.

Qualifying School players who do not finish in the top-40 at the Final Stage for their Asian Tour cards will receive playing privileges on the Asian Development Tour.

Last year, a total of 27 events were sanctioned by the Asian Tour while the Asian Development Tour held 13 tournaments on its schedule.
+There is one Scot (James Byrne), one Irishman (Niall Turner) and eight Englishmen in the Asian Tour Q School entry list.
TO VIEW ALL THE NAMES

CLICK HERE 

  
 BRUNEI PRINCE AMONG Q SCHOOL ENTRIES

Jan 3 (Reuters) - Prince Abdul Hakeem Jefri Bolkiah of Brunei is one of a record 761 golfers who will compete in the Asian Tour's qualifying school in Thailand this month.

The 39-year-old, who was his country's first Olympian when he took part in skeet shooting at the 1996 Games in Atlanta, will need to finish tied 40th or better to become the first Brunei golfer on tour.

The Prince, who took up golf having watched his grandfather - the former Sultan of Brunei - play, only turned professional last year after getting his handicap down to scratch.
He is one of 156 golfers confirmed for the final stage (Jan. 23-26) with more to come from the first stage which features 605 players split into two sections (Jan. 9-12 and Jan. 16-19).
Also taking part at the key final stage played at the Imperial Lakeview and Springfield Royal course is Germany's Alex Cejka, who has four European Tour wins, and Australia's Jake Higginbottom, the 2012 New Zealand Open winner as an amateur.