Skaik and Mullane impress on opening day

Dubai: The UAE's Sam Mullane and Ahmad Skaik delivered impressive opening rounds at the 16th Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship, both finishing inside the top ten after Thursday's play on Emirates Golf Club's iconic Majlis Course.

Mullane led the six-strong UAE contingent with a stunning performance in his debut at the prestigious Championship.

The 22-year-old carded six birdies against just one bogey to sign for a five-under-par 67, placing him in a tie for fourth after the opening round.

The impressive round followed intensive preparation, with Mullane and his fellow UAE players practicing at Emirates Golf Club up to three times a week for the past seven weeks ahead of the Championship being held in the UAE for the second time.

With home-course advantage firmly on their side, Mullane emphasised that the UAE team is competing to win, not just participate alongside the region’s best amateurs.

"There's no reason why one of us can't win it, especially around here, we know the course so well," said Mullane, who had his brother Jay on the bag. "We just are trying to prove a point, really, that we can play golf and we are not here just to make the cut."

Skaik, making his seventh appearance in the Championship, finished the day one stroke behind his UAE National Team teammate with a four-under-par 68. His round featured seven birdies, including an impressive run of four consecutive gains from the 2nd hole. However, a double bogey at the 9th, his final hole, proved costly, preventing him from sharing the opening round lead.

"I was really happy, I was playing really well," said Skaik. "I'm not as happy now because I doubled the last hole with a 9 iron in hand. Sort of got a bit ahead of myself, but I think it's a learning lesson. I mean, I'll take 4 under, of course, but I wish I would have played a better final hole."

Earlier in the day, Ahmad's brother, Mohammad, had the honour of hitting the tournament's opening tee shot in front of a packed first tee. The youngster calmed his nerves on his Championship debut by carding a birdie on that hole and went on to post a highly respectable one-over-par 73.

Rounding out the UAE contingent, Rayan Ahmed carded an even-par 72, while Jonathan Selvaraj posted a two-over-par 74 and Rashed Al Emadi finished with a 12-over-par 84.

Thailand’s Fifa Laopakdee, Australia’s Billy Dowling and Vietnam’s Khanh Hung Le carded matching six-under 66s to begin the day to share the lead on six-under-par.

Laopakdee, a junior at Arizona State University, is making his fourth appearance at the Asia-Pacific Amateur with a high finish of T-5 in his home country in 2022. After entering the Championship as the highest-ranked player in the field in the World Amateur Golf Ranking, the 20-year-old birdied six of his first nine holes beginning on the par-4 10th.

“Kind of a little of everything [was working],” said Laopakdee, who settled for an even-par 35 on his second nine to tie the lead. “My drives were good. My irons were good. I hit 17 greens. Putting was good. I made almost every putt inside 10 feet and just one silly three-putt on the card, bogey for me today but overall it was a good round.”

Dowling, who finished 10th at the Asia-Pacific Amateur in his home country at Royal Melbourne in 2023, also started fast with six birdies across his first 11 holes before a dramatic bogey save at the par-5 third hole kept his round on track.

“It was huge; I wouldn't say I was expecting to hole that putt,” said Dowling, a quarterfinalist at this year’s Amateur Championship at Royal St George’s. “Double was definitely accepting in my mind because it was 20 feet away and they are never gimmies, but when you hole it keeps the momentum with the putting and also keeps one shot off the scorecard.”

Le, a 17-year-old University of Illinois commit, is looking to add to the recent trend of Vietnamese players in contention at the Asia-Pacific Amateur. Countryman Anh Minh Nguyen finished T-7 two years ago to set a new Vietnamese Championship record and reached the U.S. Junior Amateur finals this summer.

“I don't know, I think it's a little bit of like the patriotic side in me,” said Le of the potential for a Vietnamese player to break through with a win in the Asia-Pacific Amateur. “I just love the country and I wish the best for every single person in Vietnam and just I want the best to happen for the people.”

During the day it was also announced that the 17th Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship will be contested at Te Arai Links’s South Course in Tomarata, New Zealand, from October 29-November 1, 2026.

Fred Ridley, Chairman of Augusta National Golf Club and the Masters Tournament, Mark Darbon, Chief Executive of The R&A, and Taimur Hassan, Chairman of the Asia-Pacific Golf Confederation, addressed the media at Emirates Golf Club to make the announcement.

“We are delighted to be taking the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship back to New Zealand and to be staging it at Te Arai Links for the first time,” said Darbon.

“Te Arai’s South Course is an exceptional venue and will provide a fantastic test of golf in a spectacular location. Our goal for the Championship is to continue to inspire and develop the region’s most talented players and we look forward to another outstanding edition in 2026.”