The 2018 Asia Pacific Senior Amateur Championship is an annual event organised by the Asia Pacific Golf Confederation (APGC) and R&A. The event took place in Miyazaki, Southern Japan this year. The competition sees the best over 55-year-old male amateur golfers compete for both individual and team prizes. The Singapore team, consisting of citizens, was selected based on performance in the 2017 Singapore National Senior Amateur Championship and a 2-day event held at Tanah Merah’s Garden Course in May 2018. This resulted in the following players flying the flag for Singapore, Tim Pinnegar (Captain), Douglas Ooi, Lian Ai Hian, Alan Lo and Benson Lee.
The team arrived on Monday evening and played a practice round on Tuesday. It was a tight course with every hole lined by tall pine trees on either side. For the team prize, the best 4 gross scores each day were counted. The team performed consistently well for the first two days and were positioned 6th. However, due to a poor last day saw the team lose out to Hong Kong and Pakistan by just a couple of shots. The Singapore Team dropped down to 8thplace out of 13 countries. Douglas Ooi was the best individual performer with a 3-round total of 242 which saw him finish in 33rdplace out of 92 players. Tim Pinnegar was Singapore’s second-best player on 247 for a finish in 39th.
Brent Patterson from New Zealand was the eventual individual winner, for the second year in a row, with a three-day total of 217 (73, 72, 72). The team event was won by Japan with a total score of 891 (294, 305, 292).
Next year’s event will be held in India, mid-October 2019. It is an event which certainly encourage all low handicap Singaporean senior golfers to participate and look forward to.
Tim Pinnegar
Captain of the 2018 Singapore Senior Team