(MENAFN- Muscat Daily) For the past three years, Oman's top-ranked golfer Azaan al Rumhy, has been participating in the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship (APAC) but on all the occasions, he has failed to make the cut despite going close in his maiden outing in 2014.
Azaan will be taking part in the fourth successive APAC at the Royal Wellington Golf Club in New Zealand from October 26 and the Omani said that his 'main goal will be to make the cut' in the highly-competitive amateur tournament.
The No 1 Omani golfer along with the national team manager, Steven Troup, left for New Zealand on Sunday with the Oman Golf Committee (OGC) ensuring that Azaan gets time to acclimatise to conditions before the tee-off on Thursday.
Speaking to Muscat Daily, Azaan said, 'The ninth Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship is one of the most challenging event for amateurs and I am happy to represent Oman. This will be my fourth consecutive appearance at the event and I am looking forward to a successful outing.
'Obviously, as I have failed to make the cut in the past three events, my main goal is to make the cut in Wellington. The fact that I will get couple of practice rounds ahead of the main tournament is going to be helpful and hopefully I can make it this time.'
The championship brings together the top 120 amateur golfers from each of Asia Pacific Golf Confederation (APGC) member associations.
Azaan made his debut at The Royal Melbourne Golf Club in Melbourne, Australia in October 2014.
The Omani still remembers his best round on the second day in Melbourne when he shot a brilliant two-over 74. But the opening day's bad score of 87 put paid his chance to make the cut.
In 2015, playing at The Clearwater Bay Golf & Country Club in Hong Kong, he had scores of 79 each to again miss the cut while last year, featuring in the event in Incheon, South Korea, Azaan had scores of 84 and 79 to card a total of 163 to miss the cut, which was applied at 153.
Azaan said, 'The Asia Pacific Amateur Championship has some of the best players from South Korea, Australia, China.
It is a challenging tournament and I hope to do well.'
The 33 year old Azaan is Oman's sole player at the APAC for the third year after making his debut alongside compatriot Hamood al Harthy in Melbourne.
To create the strong field, invitations are sent to the leading players from the 40 APGC-affiliated organisations.
The APGC is the representative body for national golf associations throughout Asia Pacific, operating from its headquarters in Melbourne.
Golf in the Asia-Pacific region is growing at a considerable rate and there are approximately 18mn golfers and 4,000 golf courses in the region.
The tournament is telecast in over 160 countries, making it the world's most televised amateur golf tournament.
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