The Asian Development Tour (ADT) will return to Chinese Taipei from May 21 to 24 for the Ambassador ADT, which is poised to add lustre to the burgeoning Tour’s schedule this season.
The newest ADT event, sponsored by the Yeangder Group in Chinese Taipei, will offer a prize fund of US$120,000 and will be staged at the Hsin Feng Golf and Country Club located in Hsin Chu, 40 miles away from Taipei City.
With the addition of the Ambassador ADT, the schedule now features a total of 21 tournaments in Malaysia, Chinese Taipei, Philippines and Indonesia.
Order of Merit leader Hsieh Chi-hsien, who won his long-awaited second ADT title at the Tour’s first stop in Chinese Taipei in March, will spearhead the home charge alongside four-time ADT winner Chan Shih-chang, upcoming stars Hung Chien-yao and Lee Chieh-po, as well as Asian Tour winners Lin Wen-tang and Lu Wei-chih.
ADT hopefuls from all over the region will also be bidding to boost their Order of Merit rankings in one of the richest events on the schedule. There will be plenty to play for as a solid performance will help in securing one of the five coveted 2016 Asian Tour cards on offer this season.
Emmet Hsu, Chairman of the Yeangder Group as well as the Ambassador Hotels and Hsin Feng Golf and Country Club, hailed the establishment of the Ambassador ADT on the region’s burgeoning Tour.
“We are thrilled to launch the Ambassador ADT and we look forward to working with the ADT once again. The ADT is a very good platform for players to advance their careers and with the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) points on offer, we are sure it will be a good playing opportunity for the region’s budding golfers to attain greater heights in their games,” said Hsu.
Hsu also expressed his delight with the staging an ADT event for the very first time at his golf club, which is also the home course for Chinese Taipei hotshots Lin Wen-tang and Chan Shih-chang.
“We have always been very supportive of our players. We have seen how Chan has progressed on the ADT in recent years and even made his way onto the Asian Tour. We look forward to a successful tournament later this month,” said Hsu.
Asian Tour’s Associate Director Irfan Hamid said: “On behalf of our talented players, we are privileged to welcome the Ambassador ADT on board the ADT schedule. The ADT is always looking to create new playing opportunities for players and through these new and exciting tournaments, we hope to unearth more rising stars of the game.”
A total of 150 players will compete in the Ambassador ADT, with the field being split between the ADT and the Taiwan PGA. The Ambassador ADT will be the 11th leg of the 2015 ADT season and also the Tour’s second stop in Chinese Taipei this season.
Apart from the Ambassador ADT, the Yeangder Group also sponsored the Charming Yeangder ADT which took place in March and backs the Yeangder Tournament Players’ Championship (TPC) which is returning for its sixth edition on the Asian Tour in October.
Since it was inaugurated in 2010, the ADT has grown from five events in the first year to a record 21 tournaments in both 2014 and 2015.
The ADT will continue to reward the top-five finishers on the Order of Merit at the end of this season with Asian Tour cards for 2016.
With the Olympic Games looming in 2016 where golf will be reintroduced as a medal sport, players in the region could earn their spots in Rio de Janeiro by earning Official World Golf Ranking points through the Asian Tour and ADT.
Chan Shih-chang, who finished second on the ADT Order of Merit last season following three victories, is currently in the field for the Olympic Games based on this week’s rankings.
