Hua Hin, Thailand: Three members of the Asia-Pacific Golf Confederation’s (APGC) Bonallack Trophy-winning team have secured their playing rights on the 2024 Asian Tour.
Korean Cho Woo-young, Australian Harrison Crowe and Japan’s Yuta Sugiura all finished among the top-35 in the gruelling 90-hole Final Stage of Qualifying School in Thailand.
Two other players from the team that triumphed against the European Golf Association in the Ryder Cup-style match play contest in Spain last August missed out – Korean Jang Yu-bin and Chinese Taipei’s Lin Chuan-tai.
Also failing to make the mark was China’s Jin Cheng, the 2015 Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship (AAC) winner.
Leading the way for the APGC Bonallack Trophy contingent was Cho, also a member of the gold medal-winning Korean quartet in the men’s team tournament at the Hangzhou Asian Games late last year.
He tied for 12th on 11-under 347. Joint 49th following a third-round 75, Cho finished strongly with a 65 in round four ensuring he made the 72-hole cut. He then closed with a four-under 68 at Springfield Royal Country Club in Hua Hin.
Crowe’s prospects looked even more gloomy than Cho’s after 54 holes with rounds of 74, 71 and 71 leaving him languishing in equal 67th place.
But Crowe, winner of the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship in 2022, dug deep, rounds of 68 and 66 elevating him into a share of 26th spot.
Sugiura, who had the distinction of claiming the winning point for the APGC team at the Bonallack Trophy, also had cause to celebrate after a closing 68 saw him rise from equal 49th overnight to joint 32nd on seven-under 351.
It was a particularly commendable effort from the 2022 Nomura Cup individual champion considering his quest for an Asian Tour card commenced with a 77. Four successive sub-par rounds followed as he showed the mettle that will be required to succeed among the professionals.
Taimur Hassan Amin, Chairman of the Asia-Pacific Golf Confederation, said: "Congratulations to Harrison, Woo-young and Yuta. We'll certainly miss them at the next Bonallack Trophy, but we very much look forward to following their progress and successes in the professional game in the coming years and months."
Sweden's Kristoffer Broberg, a two-time winner on the DP World Tour, finished as the top qualifier thanks to a final-round 66 which included three eagles.
His 18-under aggregate was two shots in front of runner-up Shogenji Tatsunori of Japan.
Tatsunori closed with a 67, two ahead of Justin Warren (68) from Australia, Spain’s Carlos Pigem (72) and Justin Quiban (73) from the Philippines.
Quiban, an AAC participant in 2013 and 2014, started the day with a one-stroke lead.
Chinese golfer Ye Wocheng, who appeared in the AAC in 2015, 2016 and 2017, also earned his card through the school for the second year in a row.
The Asian Tour’s first event of the new season, the US$1 million IRS Prima Malaysian Open, tees-off in just over three weeks at The Mines Resort and Golf Club, from February 15-18.
It’s one of 20 events that the Tour recently unveiled, with a significant number of important tournaments to be added. Once finalised it’s expected that the schedule will surpass last season – which saw 23 events staged with total prize money of US$35 million.
