A quartet of New Zealanders are looking to make history in the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship. No Kiwi has ever won the now 17-year-old event. If one of them is to pull it off, there's an added bonus of winning on home soil as this year's tournament is being played in New Zealand.
The famed Te Arai Links’ South Course is the host venue and through 54 holes, Zack Swanwick leads after his second-straight 67. Swanwick, one of those playing on home soil, was 4 over through his first 15 holes before righting the ship, going 11 under over his next 39 holes.
Defending champion Fifa Laopakdee, who becamse the first golfer from Thailand to win the event a year ago, trails by two. Also two back is New Zealander Cooper Moore. Joshua Bai and Zach May,
also New Zealanders, are tied for fifth.
“I feel really confident now,” said Swanwick, a junior at Florida. “I kind of know where the ball is going. I know how far it's going. Putting is starting to feel really good. Everything feels really good. Just go at it. ... been looking forward to the event for a while and having the people and the crowds, it's pretty cool.”
First played in 2009, the winner of the Asia-Pacific Amateur gains entry into the Masters Tournament. Just 18 holes separate one of these golfers from a tee time at Augusta National Golf Club.
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: 4 New Zealanders look to make history at Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship
