Channel NewsAsia - 53 minutes ago
SINGAPORE — Golf in ASEAN received a major boost after German car maker Mercedez—Benz promised a three—year multi—million—dollar sponsorship.
The ASEAN Golf Tour, which teed off last year with five events, will this year include 10 tournaments each with a prize of US$50,000, while the season—ending Tour Championship offers a US$75,000 prize.
Under the three—year deal, Mercedes—Benz will support events in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines and Vietnam.
The opening event will be the May 15—18 Mercedes—Benz Masters Indonesia, followed one week later by the Mercedes—Benz Masters Philippines.
The Tour is officially sanctioned by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and is based in Singapore.
This year, three events will be held in Thailand, two each in Indonesia and the Philippines, and one each in Malaysia, Singapore and Vietnam. There are also plans to stage future tournaments in Brunei, Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar.
The Singapore Open is just one of the growing number of events on the Asian Tour. This has given many pros from the region a chance to compete among the best and at the highest level.
Despite the expansion, it is still not enough to cater to the large number of golfers in Asia, particularly Southeast Asia.
Singapore’s Lam Chih Bing, who has had reasonable experience playing on the Asian Tour and a few European Tour events, believes the ASEAN Tour will be a fantastic platform for young golfers in the region.
He said: "Well... I think it’s a great tour for a lot of guys with no opportunity to play full time on the Asian Tour or some of the bigger tours. I’ve got a lot of friends who have got a lot of talent.
"But they have nowhere to play because they just couldn’t get on to the Asian Tour. I think this tour gives a platform for a lot of guys to go to some bigger tours in future."
Pros are not the only ones who will get more time on the greens with the new Tour. The chairman of ASEAN Golf Tour, AC Wong of Singapore, is hoping the tour will act as a feeder line for talented golfers to progress to bigger tours later on.
He said: "One of the aims is to include one top amateur to participate and grow with the event so there will be two flights available on every single tournament." This means that at least six amateurs will get a slice of the action at each event.
Money aside, there will be extensive media coverage and support from the ASEAN Secretariat. Given the popularity of golf in the region, the German car maker admits the decision to be the title sponsor was a no—brainer.
"In golf, we have a huge customer base around the world. And for us to be here in South East Asia with all the enthusiasm in golf, it was a must for us to support the idea, especially because we are supporting youth talents to come forward into pro activities," said Dr Rainer Thiel, President and CEO, Daimler South East Asia Pte Ltd. — CNA/ir