The top amateur golfers from the region will be chasing invitations to major tournaments when the Men’s Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship starts at the Te Arai Links course north of Auckland on Thursday.
An invitation to the Masters at Augusta National and a place in The Open at St Andrews are up for grabs for the tournament winner.
Nine New Zealanders are in the field led by Zack Swanwick of Hawke’s Bay, Joshua Bai of Auckland and Cooper Moore of Canterbury.
Swanwick is a junior at the University of Florida who has recorded three top-10 college finishes in 2025-26 and represented the International Team at the 2026 Arnold Palmer Cup.
The field is made up of 120 players from 40 nations across the region.
Australian Harry Takis is the highest-ranked player in the field at number 21 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking with Swanwick ranked just behind him at 23.
Thai Fifa Laopakdee is aiming to become only the second player to win the title in consecutive years, following Hideki Matsuyama’s back-to-back victories in 2010 and 2011.
Te Arai Links’ South Course is on the east coast 100km north of Auckland and was designed by Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw and opened in 2022.
It measures 6259 metres and is also home to Ryan Fox, New Zealand’s reigning Open champion, who holds the course record.