Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific Championship descends on Abu Dhabi
Daily diary from Abu Dhabi GC as Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific Championship gears up
Welcome from Abu Dhabi Golf Club as we gear up for the Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific Championship (WAAP) to be held on the National Course, Wednesday to Saturday.
Andrea Faldella, Golf Operations Manager at Abu Dhabi Golf Club told Gulf News: “Abu Dhabi Golf Club is proud to host this significant event on the global golfing calendar. Monday is the first official practice round of the tournament and it is good to witness first hand such exceptional golf from all the players. The importance of the event is illustrated by seeing how previous players in the championship have gone on to bigger and better things as professionals on the world stage. The 2018 WAAP champion Atthaya Thitikul has just secured the 2021 Ladies European Tour’s Race to Costa del Sol Order of Merit title with two events still on the calendar. Philippines’ Yuka Saso and Thai player Patty Tavatanakit, tied second and 15th respectively in the inaugural WAAP have this year both won major championships; Tavatanakit winning the 2021 ANA Inspiration in April and Saso winning the 2021 US Women’s Open in June.”
Here are some facts and figures for this week’s WAAP:
Format: 72 holes of stroke play over four rounds with a cut after 36 holes to the leading 50 players and ties.
78 players in the field representing 16 countries.
Countries represented: Australia, China, Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Iran, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Thailand and the host country UAE
The winner receives invites to the following tournaments:
2022 AIG Women’s British Open,
2022 The Amundi Evian Championship,
2022 Augusta National Women’s Amateur.
This is the third staging of the championship:
2018 — Sentosa Golf Club, Singapore. Champion: Atthaya Thitikul (Thailand).
2019 — The Royal Golf Club, Japan. Champion: Yuka Yasuda (Japan).
There are two local UAE National golfers competing this week: Alia Al Emadi and Hamda Al Suwaidi.
In addition the Emirates Golf Federation has nominated two expats from the Asia-Pacific region to play: India’s Natalii Gupta and Hannah Cheryl Alan, who will both be playing as UAE invites.