Bangalore, Oct 19: Around 120 golfers from New Zealand, Hong Kong, Australia, the UK, Malaysia, Pakistan and Singapore besides India are expected to take part in the 13th edition of the Asia Pacific Senior Amateur Golf Championship starting here on Wednesday.
The three-day, 54 hole competition, to be hosted by the Bangalore Golf Club, is coming to India for the first time, the secretary-general of the Asia Pacific Golf Confederation, Dilip Thomas, told reporters here.
The event is open to golfers over the age of 55 of 27 member countries of the APGC and is the only recognised seniors tournament of the region, Thomas said.
Among the contenders for top honours are golfers from New Zealand, which hosted the previous edition, and Australia.
Last year, the individual event was won by Rodney Barltrop from New Zealand with Alex Cleave of Australia being the runner-up.



Australia has been winning the team championship for the last four years. This year again, both Australia and New Zealand have fielded strong teams but would have to look out for an equally strong Indian team, which includes Ashok Malik and Vikramjit Singh. The duo jointly hold the record of having won the Amateur Golf Championship of India on five different occasions.



The confirmed participants include 28 from overseas. The championship would be held in four groups -- 55 to 59 years; 60-64; 65-69 and 70 years and above. The next edition would be held in Singapore after which China would host the event, Thomas said.


Bureau Report