As if determined to make up for lost time, Australia raced out of the starting blocks on the opening day of the 29th Nomura Cup.
After waiting five years for a chance to claim an 11th Asia-Pacific Amateur Golf Team Championship success, Jack Buchanan, Quinnton Croker and Jye Pickin wasted no time in giving notice of their title aspirations.
Relishing the conditions on the Jack Nicklaus-designed Masters Course at Manila Southwoods Golf and Country Club, Buchanan fired a sparkling six-under-par 66. With Croker adding a 69, Australia posted a first-day tally of nine-under 135.
South Australian Buchanan is the reigning Golf Australia Men’s Order of Merit champion. He finished runner-up at this year’s Australian Amateur and won his home state’s amateur championship last month.
In the event in which the best two daily scores in each three-man team are counted, Pickin’s three-over 75 was not required.
On a tightly-packed leaderboard, just six strokes separate the leading nine teams in the four-day championship that features 16 Asia-Pacific Golf Confederation member nations.
With James Leow carding a 66 and Ryan Ang contributing a 71, Singapore soared into second place on 137 with Chinese Taipei and Japan a further stroke back in equal third.
Leading the way for Japan was Yuta Sugiura with a 67. In 32nd place in the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR), Sugiura is the highest-rated player in the field.
Alone in fifth place on 139 are Thailand, who captured their first Nomura Cup when the event was last staged in 2017. With Ashita Piamkulvanich (73) and Pongsapak Laopakdee (75) below their best, the Thais were thankful to Arsit Areephun, whose 66 matched Buchanan and Leow as the best individual round of the day.
In joint sixth spot on three-under 141 are Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand and hosts the Philippines, for whom the scores of Kristoffer Arevalo (70) and Jacob Rolida (71) were counted.
In 10th place are India on 144 followed by Hong Kong (145), Indonesia (148), Pakistan (154), Guam (157), United Arab Emirates (169) and Mongolia (176).
• • • • •
Team Scores
135 – Australia (Jack Buchanan 66; Quinnton Croker 69; Jye Pickin 75)
137 – Singapore (James Leow 66; Ryan Ang 71; Brandon Han 75)
138 – Chinese Taipei (Su Chung-hung 68; Hung Chao-hsin 70; Lu Sun-yi 72)
138 – Japan (Yuta Sugiura 67; Minato Oshima 71; Riura Matsui 77)
139 – Thailand (Arsit Areephun 66; Ashita Piamkulvanich 73; Pongsapak Laopakdee 75)
141 – Korea (Jang Yubin 70; Moon Dong-hyun 71; Kim Hyun-uk 72)
141 – Malaysia (Anson Yeo 70, Malcolm Ting 71; Zia Izzuddeen 72)
141 – New Zealand (Jimmy Hydes 70; Kazuma Kobori 71; Sam Jones 76)
141 – Philippines (Kristoffer Arevalo 70; Jacob Rolida 71; Elee Bisera 72)
144 – India (Yuvraj Singh 72; Shaurya Bhattacharya 72; Krishnav Nikhil Chopraa 73)
145 – Hong Kong (Leon D’Souza 72; Lou Tan Chi-hin 73; Isaac Lam 77)
148 – Indonesia (Rayhan Latief 73; Jonathan Hartono 75; Kenneth Sutianto 76)
154 – Pakistan (Syed Shazli 76; Saad Malik 78; Damil Attaullah 86)
157 – Guam (John Camacho 75; Nalapon Vongjalorn 82; Eugene Park 82)
169 – United Arab Emirates (Rashid Al Jassmy 84; Mohammad Skaik 85; Abdalla Al Suwaidi 92)
176 – Mongolia (Mungunshagai Gantsolmon 88; Bat-Amgalan Chinbat 88; Altaibaatar Batsaikhan 88)
ABOUT THE Nomura Cup
72 hole stroke play championship with
individual
and team competition held biennially. Four-man
teams are
fielded from various nations in Asia and the
Pacific.
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