Juniors Set to Bloom at Orchard in APGC Championships

Manila, Philippines: Three months after her runaway victory in the Queen Sirikit Cup’s individual tournament, Indian Avani Prashanth returns to the Philippines in search of more success.

It was in the third week of February that Prashanth confirmed her potential with a stunning 10-stroke triumph at Manila Southwoods Golf & Country Club.

It’s a performance she’ll be aiming to emulate when she lines up in the 2023 Asia-Pacific Golf Confederation (APGC) Junior Championships at Manila’s Orchard Golf & Country Club this week.

Making a welcome return to the calendar after an absence of four years due to Covid restrictions, the region’s premier team and individual championship for boys and girls features leading junior players from 11 APGC member nations as well as two strong teams representing the European Golf Association (EGA).

Players who are 17 years or under as of May 16 are eligible to participate.

The format for the championship is stroke play, mixed gender team competition. Teams are made up of one male and one female player from each country and the aggregate gross score of both players will be the team’s score.

Lowest team scores after 54 holes will be declared the winners. The lowest 54-hole individual score from both boys' and girls' divisions will also be recognised.

Inaugurated in 2015, the event announced the potential of Japan’s Nasa Hataoka, who tied for top spot in the girls’ individual category.

Among other notables to have competed in the APGC Junior Championships are the last two winners of the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship (AAC), Japan’s Keita Nakajima and Australian Harrison Crowe.

Female participants have included two-time Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific (WAAP) runner-up Natthakritta Vongtaveelap of Thailand, Japan’s Tsubasa Kajitani, winner of the inaugural Augusta National Women’s Amateur, and Australian Grace Kim, who claimed her maiden LPGA Tour win last month.

Taimur Hassan Amin, Chairman of the APGC, said: “The APGC Junior Championships are a prestigious event that we’re thrilled is going ahead this year after such a long break.

“We thank our APGC Board member Bones Floro and his team at the National Golf Association of the Philippines and the management and staff at Orchard Golf & Country Club for their support in hosting the championships.”

Of the 22 girls in the starting line-up, three are in the top-100 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR) with 10 in the top-500 and 16 in the top-1,000.

Of the boys, there are four players in the top-500 and eight in the top-1,000.

Like Prashanth, Kim Min-sol and Seo Kyo-rim will be delighted to be back on Philippines soil having been instrumental in Korea’s team triumph at the Queen Sirikit Cup.

Currently 12th in the WAGR, Kim finished runner-up to Thai Eila Galitsky at the 2023 WAAP in Singapore in March. Seo is 55th in the WAGR.

Also in the starting line-up is Hong Kong China’s Sophie Han, joint third at the WAAP, and Nishna Patel, part of the Indian team, with Prashanth, that were runners-up to Korea in the Queen Sirikit Cup.

Flying the flag for the EGA are Spaniard Anna Canado Espinol (115th in the WAGR) and Iceland’s Perla Sol Sigurbrandsdottir (329th).

On the boys’ side, the EGA is looking to Ireland’s Jack Murphy (911th in the WAGR) and Spaniard Jorge Siyuan Hao, at 187th the highest ranked male in the field.

Hao was fifth in last year’s R&A Boys Amateur Championship and joint runner-up with Murphy at the European Young Masters, the event used to determine the EGA representatives in the APGC Junior Championships.

The winner of the boys’ individual competition at Orchard Golf & Country Club receives an exemption to play in a professional event on the Japan Tour while the girls’ individual winner receives an opportunity to play in the KIA Korea Women’s Open.