Asia-Pacific Amateur at Te Arai Links -New Zealand

Asia-Pacific Amateur at Te Arai Links begins at the end of the month.

New Zealand will take centre stage in world amateur golf this spring, with a six-strong contingent of Kiwi players confirmed to tee it up on home soil at the 17th Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship (AAC), to be played October 29–November 1 at Te Arai Links' South Course, a 75 minute drive north of Auckland.

Caption: The beauty of Te Arai Links which hosts the Asia-Pacific Amateur at the end of this month.

It’s the second time the R&A and Masters co-sanctioned tournament has visited Aotearoa following the 2017 event at Royal Wellington Golf Club, and marks the first major tournament to be hosted at the Te Arai since it was opened in 2022.

The AAC carries some of the richest prizes in amateur golf: the champion earns an invitation to the 2027 Masters Tournament and an exemption into The 155th Open Championship at St Andrews in Scotland, while the runner-up and top-three finishers also earn direct pathways into golf's biggest stages.

New Zealand's charge will be tested by a strong regional field, headlined by Australia's Harry Takis -- world No. 17 and the highest-ranked player in the Championship -- alongside reigning AAC champion Fifa Laopakdee of Thailand (29 world ranking), Vietnam's Anh Minh Nguyen (No 30), and fellow Thai contender Josh Duagmanee (No 40).

New Zealand golf fans need no introduction to what that pathway can produce. Reigning Open Champion Ryan Fox is among the AAC's notable past competitors, alongside 2021 Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama — a two-time AAC winner -- and 2022 Open champion Cameron Smith, while rising Kiwi golf star Daniel Hillier finished sixth in the 2017 tournament in Wellington. In its 16-year history, AAC alumni have gone on to claim 34 PGA Tour titles and more than 180 wins across the world's major professional tours.

While daily public attendance to the AAC will be limited due to the infrastructure required to accommodate large crowds, the event will be broadcast in over 150 countries, with Sky Sport carrying the New Zealand coverage from 2pm-5pm for all four rounds of the championship.

Te Arai Links' South Course, designed by Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw and consistently ranked among the world's top 100 courses, will provide a fitting stage. The par-72 links layout features 16 ocean-view holes along the Pacific coastline and is home to The Playground, the largest putting green in the world.