Strong Asian golfers to challenge at BRG tournament

ĐÀ NẴNG — Pakistan golfer Ahmad Baig, who won Lexus Challenge and Nam A Bank Vietnam Masters in Việt Nam will be facing stiff competition at the BRG Open Golf Championship-Đà Nẵng 2024.

He will be playing against strong challengers from Asia including Indian Rahil Gangjee, Kosuke Hamamoto, Natipong Srithong Runchanapong Youprayong from Thailand and Liu Yung-hua from Taiwan.

The BRG Open – under the Asian Development Tour series – will be at the Legend Đà Nẵng Golf Resort on August 30-31.

The tournament will see eight professional golfers and 12 other amateurs from Việt Nam competing in the third ADT Tour series in Việt Nam, the event’s organising committee said.

Kosuke Hamamoto, one of the Asian Tour's rising stars, has completed two tournaments – International Series England and International Series Morocco – 65th and 37th, respectively.

India's Rahil Gangjee also secured a victory at the PKNS Selangor Masters in Malaysia in June.

Liu Yung-hua just took a title at the BNI Ciputra Golfpreneur Tournament last week.

Thailand’s Runchanapong Youprayong said it’s his first tournament in Việt Nam, but he had several visits to the country before, joking that he had enjoyed breakfast and a nice sleep in the beach city.

Vietnamese Trương Chí Quân said he loved hospitality of the local fans and people, and Đà Nẵng is one of his favourite courses and he is already looking forward to coming back again.

Quân, who represented Việt Nam at ADT series abroad, hoped that there will be more ADT Tournaments coming to Việt Nam.

General Deputy Director at BRG Group, Mark Reeves said the tournament has been well prepared and the Hole No 10 par-5 was upgraded, as well as the fairway and the green were nice and fresh.

Ken Kudo from the Asian Tour said that the BRG Open Golf Championship has become more and more popular since it started in 2022, hosting golfers from 15 countries at the first event, whereas today 30 countries are represented.

According to the city’s Culture and Sports department, the tournament last year drew 4,000 tourists and visitors to the city, while 50,000 other followed on livestream and digital platforms.

Nearly 144 Asian golfers will be playing in three rounds of the 18-hole turf at the BRG Open Golf Championship-Đà Nẵng with stroke play for total prizes of US$100,000.

Chen Guxin of China and Aaron Wilkin from Australia won the trophy in 2022 and 2023, respectively.