Hanoi, Vietnam: The spur of adding to his list of ‘firsts’ will fire Le Khanh Hung’s bid for history at next month’s Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship (AAC).
In the absence of Nguyen Anh Minh, 17-year-old Khanh Hung and Nguyen Duc Son will represent Vietnam in the 16th edition of the AAC at Emirates Golf Club’s Majlis Course from October 23-26.
In Dubai, Khanh Hung, 276th in the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR), will be aiming to become the first player from his country to lift the region’s most prestigious amateur title. A tall order it may be, but creating firsts is nothing new to Khanh Hung.
It was in 2023, when aged 15, that he announced himself on the regional stage by claiming the individual gold medal at the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games, a first for Vietnam.
A year later, Khanh Hung once more wrote his name into golf’s history books as a member of the first Vietnamese team to win the Asia-Pacific Men’s Amateur Team Championship for the Nomura Cup, alongside Nguyen Anh Minh and Ho Anh Huy.
Now his sights are firmly set on the AAC, aware that victory at Emirates Golf Club secures the winner starting spots in the Masters Tournament and Open Championship in 2026.
“It (winning) would mean a lot to me and my country. It (a Vietnamese winning) will definitely happen one day. There are a lot of good junior golfers in Vietnam where golf is progressing and the support is strong. I have a lot of belief in Vietnam golf,” said Khanh Hung, who currently attends high school near Orlando in the US and has already accepted a place at the University of Illinois next year.
“The AAC is the biggest amateur championship in Asia-Pacific and it’ll be a pleasure to be in Dubai. I just wish to have a good time and to be the best version of myself every single day, no matter how the result may be. Every junior golfer will watch the Majors. It is every player’s dream to be there. Just to have the opportunity to play in the Asia-Pacific Amateur and have a shot to play in two of the biggest Majors is very big for our region.
“I remember the first time I watched the Masters in 2019. I was really young and golf was just a hobby then. I spent the whole Sunday with my dad watching Tiger (Woods) win that year. I didn’t know much about Tiger then, but it was special. He was emotional, everyone was emotional and it was cool to see,” added Khanh Hung, a member of the International Team at last year’s Junior Presidents Cup in Canada whose sole previous AAC appearance came at Australia’s Royal Melbourne in 2023 where he tied for 24th.
Also making his second start in the AAC will be Duc Son. Having missed the cut at Taiheiyo Club in Gotemba, Japan last year, the 18-year-old is anxious to make amends in Dubai.
“It’ll be special to represent Vietnam in such a prestigious tournament. I’m looking forward to it,” said the Hanoi-based golfer who won last year’s Faldo Series Asia Grand Final and his country’s national championship.
“It would be a great honour (to win) for my country. It’ll be a historic milestone and serve as an inspiration to other junior golfers in Vietnam. Playing in the Masters and The Open is every golfer’s dream. This is a great motivation. When I started to take up golf seriously in early 2015, it was the year Jordan Spieth won both the Masters and The Open, and he is my favourite player. I tell myself that I need to practice hard and do everything I need to do to be like him. That’s my dream,” he added.
To date the best performance by a Vietnamese in the AAC was Nguyen Anh Minh’s joint seventh place finish at Royal Melbourne in 2023.
Anh Minh, runner-up at this year’s US Junior Boys’ Championship, will be conspicuous by his absence in Dubai, due to college commitments in the US. The same week as the AAC, Ho Anh Huy, Nguyen Tuan Anh and Doan Uy will represent Vietnam in the Asian Youth Games in Bahrain.