The fifth-annual Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship, one of the world s premier amateur golf events, will be televised across more than 150 countries and reach millions of homes around the world, the Asia Pacific Golf Confederation (APGC), in partnership with the Masters Tournament and The R&A, announced today. Fox Sports will broadcast the championship in Australia on 26-27 October from 4.00pm-6.00pm. Asian Tour Media will produce the high-definition broadcast, including two hours of live coverage on each of the four competition days. A 30-minute highlight show will also be created after the conclusion of the event, all of which makes the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship the most televised amateur golf tournament in the world. Held at Nanshan International Golf Club on mainland China 24-27 October, the event is organized by the APGC, the Masters Tournament and The R&A. Every year, the winner is rewarded with an invitation to the Masters Tournament the following year and, along with the runner(s)-up, a place at International Final Qualifying for The Open Championship. Television exposure is an important element to showcasing the talent that exists in Asia-Pacific, said Hur Kwang-soo, president of the APGC. Equally important is our ability to increase the visibility of the amateur game in this region with the collective mission of growing the game of golf. The English-speaking commentary team will include Bill Macatee, a regular member of the Masters Tournament television broadcast who will be announcing his fourth Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship. Frank Nobilo, one of New Zealand s most successful golfers who is now a Golf Channel analyst in the United States, will return for the second consecutive year. Australian Bruce Young, one of the region s leading journalists and analysts, will complete the team as the on-course reporter. With a host of broadcast partners across the globe, fans can follow their favorite amateur golfers on TV channels covering key markets in six continents. Live coverage will be broadcast on 24 and 25 October between 1430 and 1630 and from 1600 to 1800 on 26 and 27 October across Africa, Asia, Australasia, Europe, North America and South America (all times UTC/GMT +8 hours). Fox Sports will provide tournament coverage in China and across Asia, Australia and the Middle East, while viewers in Japan, South Korea and New Zealand can catch the action on Tokyo Broadcasting System, SBS Golf and Sky Sports, respectively. In Europe, the tournament is distributed through Sky Sports in the United Kingdom and CNBC across continental Europe. Other broadcasters include ESPN2 (United States), ESPN (Latin America), TSN (Canada) and SuperSport (Southern Africa). All of the coverage will also be streamed live on the official event Web site, www.AACgolf.com. Invitations for the championship were sent to the leading players from the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR) from the APGC-member countries. Each country is automatically provided with two positions, which are to be filled by their highest-ranked players. If there is only one or no players from a member country in the rankings, they are able to nominate one or two players accordingly provided the player/s have a handicap of 5.4 or less. The remainder of the field is filled by taking the next highest ranked players from the WAGR with the maximum number of players allowed from a country being six. The only exception is for the host country which is allowed to nominate an additional four players. For more information, including a full listing of current entries in the event, visit www.AACgolf.com
Author: AAC