Handa Singapore Classic coming!

Sentosa, March 24: The Asian Tour is proud to announce that a new event, the Handa Singapore Classic, will make its debut at the Orchid Country Club from September 9-12, 2010 with a prize fund of US$400,000. The tournament winner will receive US$63,400 and a two-year winner’s exemption on the Asian Tour.



The tournament is co-sanctioned by the Asian Tour and the Singapore PGA. This will be the first time the Asian Tour and Singapore PGA have collaborated to host a tournament that will showcase Asia’s finest golfers to the Singapore public; timely in view of the emergence of new and exciting talent from the Lion City.



Twenty places have already been allocated to the top Singapore professionals with a further four spots for top Singapore amateurs along with a spot for Singapore’s top junior. Singapore’s best, led by Mardan Mamat and Lam Chih Bing, will tee up alongside the top players from the rest of Asia, as well as the up and coming stars of the future.



Dr Haruhisa Handa, Chairman of International Sport Promotion Society (ISPS), the event’s title sponsor, said: “As Chairman of ISPS, this is the first tournament we have sponsored on the Asian Tour. We are extremely pleased that ISPS is able to provide this support and are looking forward to establishing it as an annual fixture on the Tour’s schedule.



“At ISPS, we firmly believe that golf is a game that should be available to everyone. The Handa Singapore Classic will provide a valuable opportunity for ISPS to help raise awareness of one of our main charitable recipients, The International Blind Golf Association, and will help show that those who have a partial or complete visual impairment are also able to enjoy the game.”



Dr Handa is a Japanese philanthropist and businessman. He works globally with a number of worthy charities through his different organisations including ISPS.



Kyi Hla Han, Asian Tour Executive Chairman, welcomed the Tour’s newest tournament. “We are thrilled to announce the arrival of the Handa Singapore Classic onto the Asian Tour Schedule for 2010. The Handa Singapore Classic is one of three new tournaments already on our calendar this year, with more to come, and our talented players are excited with this development which reinforces the strength and appeal of the Asian Tour.”



Choo Wee Khiang, Group General Manager of Orchid Country Club, is looking forward to playing host to the full field Asian Tour event in September.



“On behalf of Orchid Country Club, we are delighted and honoured to be the host venue of the Handa Singapore Classic. OCC was the first Runner-up in Best Course Renovation in Asia Pacific awarded by the Asia Golf Monthly Awards 2009 and this inaugural event will showcase our championship golf course and allow us to play a major role in the development of the game in Singapore and Asia,” said Choo.



The deal has been brokered by WSM Sponsorship, a full service sports marketing agency from the UK, and the leading independent promoter on the European Senior Tour.



Andrew White, the CEO, said of the Handa Singapore Classic: “WSM are extremely pleased to have brought Dr Handa, a global sponsor in the game of golf, to the Asian Tour as the title sponsor of this new tournament in Singapore. With this major prize fund commitment from our sponsors, we are expecting an excellent first year event with a strong field. WSM is looking forward to a successful tournament and to further collaboration with our Asian Tour partners.”



The Asian Tour is the official sanctioning body for professional golf in Asia and is the only player-led organisation in the region. The Tour represents over 300 players from 30 different nationalities including India’s Jeev Milkha Singh, Thailand’s Thongchai Jaidee, China’s Liang Wen-chong, Australian Scott Hend and Korea’s Bae Sang-moon. Fijian Vijay Singh and Korean stars K.J. Choi and Y.E. Yang are honorary members of the Asian Tour.


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Taken from
http://www.asiantour.com/news.aspx?sid=20100324539835858881

MGK members get 2 FREE season pass. Collected 2 after game at MBGC

Just checked out the leaderboard... many many low scores. Currently, 101 players out of 144 are par or lower.

Mardan shot -7, the man with the funky swing - Thaworn -8. Leader is Peter Karmis at -9.

http://www.asiantour.com/livescoring.aspx?score_sid=20100909669686569383&event_sid=20100324326820594346