Practice rounds underway at Kasumigaseki

Practice rounds are underway at Kasumigaseki Country Club, as players fine-tune their games ahead of the 2010 Asian Amateur Championship. Under bright skies over Kasumigaseki’s West Course, one hour north west of Tokyo, the elite of Asia-Pacific golf are poised to go in search of the 2011 Masters Tournament invitation and exemption into Open Championship International Final Qualifying (IFQ) on offer to the winner.

From 7 – 10 October, a 118-player field representing 27 Asia Pacific Golf Confederation member nations will play 36 holes of the West Course, before the field is cut to 60 at the half-way stage. In addition to the opportunities available to the winner of the Championship, the runner-up(s) will also gain an exemption into either IFQ – Asia or IFQ – Australasia, depending upon the player’s preference.

In 2010, 52 players from last years inaugural Championship, which took place at Mission Hills, China, are once again competing in the hope of earning their chance at Major Championship golf.

Tokyo Broadcasting System will produce the world feed that will be distributed in high-definition to more than 150 countries via ESPN STAR Sports (Asia), ONE HD (Australia), TSN (Canada), ESPN Latin America, Fox Sports (Middle East), Sky Sports (New Zealand) and ESPN2 (United States). Bill Macatee, who is part of the Masters Tournament commentary team, and former European Tour professional Jay Townsend will act as the English-speaking announcers.

Live coverage of the Asian Amateur Championship, as well as live scores and regular reports will appear on AsianAmateurChampionship.com throughout the week.