Shen and Lam Shine Brightly in Beijing

Beijing, China: Jeffrey Shen and Markus Lam bettered par as Hong Kong, China soared to the top of the leaderboard after the first round of the 31st Nomura Cup.

Shen and Lam both returned two-under-par 70s at Beijing’s Bayhood No. 9 Golf Club to give Hong Kong, China a flying start at the biennial Asia-Pacific Men’s Amateur Golf Team Championship.

In the 21-nation event in which the best two daily scores in each three-man team are counted, Hong Kong, China’s four-under 140 aggregate gives them a two-stroke advantage from Japan and the Philippines, for whom Rolando Bregente Jr fired a 69, the low round of the day.

Three shots further back in joint fourth are hosts China and defending champions Vietnam with Thailand alone in sixth spot on 146. The are followed by New Zealand (147), Korea (148), Malaysia and the United Arab Emirates (both 149), Australia (150), Macao, China (151), Pakistan (152), Indonesia (154), Singapore (155), Chinese Taipei (159), Guam (161), Myanmar (162), Cambodia (164), Saudi Arabia (174) and Mongolia (176).

It was an especially memorable day for 23-year-old Shen, who took up golf when aged eight and grew up in the Chinese capital.

“It’s my pleasure to represent the Hong Kong team in the Nomura Cup. This is the Asia-Pacific Amateur Team Championship. It’s a huge event and I want to play well as it will be my last team event as an amateur,” said Shen, who is planning on joining the ranks of the professionals next year.

Shen, who joined the Hong Kong national team three years ago and was a member of the Asia-Pacific Golf Confederation’s victorious team in the Ryder Cup-style Bonallack Trophy against Europe last year, is currently 237th in the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR).

Teeing-off from the 10th hole on a course he’s played twice previously, Shen began confidently, covering his opening nine holes in three-under 33, highlighted by a two-putt birdie at the long 17th and a chip-in for a two at the short 18th. He picked up another shot at the par-five second – his 11th hole of the day – before stumbling with bogeys on six and seven and failing to convert an excellent birdie chance on nine.

“I didn’t play well on my back nine and missed a short putt on my last hole, which made me really angry. But I need to control it (my emotions). This is golf. There are still three days to go,” said Shen, one of only six players in the 63-man starting field to break par.

He added: “On this course, first of all you need to hit it on the fairway because some of the holes are pretty tight. The condition of the greens is good, so if you read the lines, then you can make the putts.”

In contrast to Shen, his team-mate Lam made a sluggish start with two bogeys in his first three holes before finding his range, covering the remaining 15 holes in four-under, escaping from tree trouble to end his round with a birdie at the par-five ninth.

“I hit a bad chip at the first and started with bogey but just plugged along. This course is hard with narrow fairways and quite small greens with a lot of slope on them. On nine I escaped the trees and made birdie – a good way to end the round,” said Lam, who has been focusing on improving his driving and his mentality.

“I’ve been struggling with my driver these past few weeks and I’ve been working really hard on my swing with coach Tim (Tang). I’ve also been working on my mentality – trying to be more level-headed throughout the round. After my slow start I just stayed patient. I knew that there were some opportunities. I had a few good saves that kept me going – and that’s something that stood out for me today,” he added.

Bregente continued his good recent run of form with a round that contained four birdies and a solitary blemish at the 16th. “I wasn’t hitting my driver so far, but my putting was hot today. The course is not easy. The greens are so difficult and the fairways are tough to hit. My gameplan for tomorrow is simple – hit the fairway, hit the green and two-putt,” said Bregente, runner-up in both the national stroke play and match play championships in his home country in recent weeks.

With Taisei Nagasaki and Mao Matsuyama to the fore, Japan made a strong start in their bid to regain the title they last won in 2022.

Nagasaki, runner-up in last year’s Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship in Dubai and winner of the Japan Junior Championship a fortnight ago, made three birdies against two bogeys to sign for a one-under 71. That score was matched by Matsuyama, who made amends for a double-bogey six at 10 with three birdies over the final six holes.

“The pin positions were tough which made the approach shots so important. I didn’t have any three-putts, which was good,” said 15-year-old Nagasaki.

One of the best comebacks of the day came from Malaysian Aiden Ahmad Shaharuddin who recovered from three-over through 10 before rallying with birdies at 13, 15, 16 and 18 to make it into red figures.

Even-par returns from Cui Jingguo and Nguyen Tuan Anh ensured China and Vietnam are well positioned heading into Wednesday’s second round.

It was a challenging day for Australian Kayun Mudadana, at 97th in the WAGR, the top-rated player in the field. Starting from the 10th he ran up four bogeys on the back nine and then suffered back-to-back double-bogeys at the sixth and seventh en route to a 76.

FULL FIRST-ROUND TEAM SCORES

140 – Hong Kong, China
142 – Japan; Philippines
145 – China; Vietnam
146 – Thailand
147 – New Zealand
148 – Korea
149 – Malaysia; United Arab Emirates
150 – Australia
151 – Macao, China
152 – Pakistan
154 – Indonesia
155 – Singapore
159 – Chinese Taipei
161 – Guam
162 – Myanmar
166 – Cambodia
174 – Saudi Arabia
176 – Mongolia 

LEADING FIRST-ROUND INDIVIDUAL SCORES

69 – Rolando Bregente Jr (Philippines)
70 – Jeffrey Shen (Hong Kong, China); Markus Lam (Hong Kong, China)
71 – Aiden Ahmad Shaharuddin (Malaysia); Mao Matsuyama (Japan); Taisei Nagasaki (Japan)
72 – Cui Jingguo (China); Nguyen Tuan Anh (Vietnam)
73 – Ethan Tian (Hong Kong, China); Jet Hernandez (Philippines); Settawut Kenanan (Thailand); Siwakorn Kriangkrai (Thailand); Zachary May (New Zealand); Ho Anh Huy (Vietnam); Kaito Sato (Japan); Wang Haoyi (China) 

*For full scores and live scoring, please click here.