Diksha Dagar of India
A formidable line-up of regional rising stars will gather for the inaugural staging of the Simone Asia Pacific Cup which will be held at Pondok Indah Golf Course in Jakarta, Indonesia from August 18-20.
Thailand’s Jaravee Boonchant, Australia’s Cassie Porter, India’s Diksha Dagar, Chinese Taipei’s Cheng-Hsuan Shih and Malaysia’s Natasha Andrea Oon and Alyaa Abdulghany are among the names to look out for in the US$750,000 event as they seek to provide stiff competition to big names such as Lydia Ko of New Zealand, Korean duo Hyo Joo Kim and So Yeon Ryu and Japan’s Hinako Shibuno.
These are aspiring players who are climbing up the ranks through various circuits worldwide, including the Ladies European Tour (LET), Epson Tour (LPGA developmental circuit), as well as local flagship tours of China, Taiwan, Thailand and Australasia.
Shortly after joining the play-for-pay ranks last year, Jaravee made a swift impact by capturing the Thailand LPGA Master, the Thai LPGA Tour season-ending tournament, for her maiden professional victory.
The 23-year-old is currently plying her trade on the Epson Tour, where she aims to secure her LPGA Tour card with a top 10 finish on the money list at the end of the season. She’s presently placed 26th.
Porter is another up-and-coming professional hoping to put her ability to the test in Jakarta, after proving her worth back home.
In her rookie season on the WPGA of Australasia, she secured nine top-10 finishes from 10 starts, highlighted by two runner-up results and tying for creditable fourth in the LET jointly-sanctioned Women’s NSW Open.
Shih has been one of the consistent performers of the LPGA Tour of Taiwan this season where she is currently ranked fifth on the Order of Merit, following two runner-up finishes. She is also a one-time winner on the TLPGA.
Oon, who is barely a few months into her professional career, will want to use Simone Asia Pacific Cup as her stepping stone.
She’s looking to reproduce the same kind of success enjoyed during her splendid amateur career where she was ranked a career-best number seven in the world.
In May, Oon stood out as one of the best collegiate golfers in the US, finishing solo second in the NCAA Championship.
Tatiana Jaqueline Wijaya will spearhead a strong six-player contingent that comprise also Ida Ayu Indira Melati Putri and Dea Martika Mahendra as they aim to impress in the first international women’s golf tournament on their home soil since the Ladies Indonesia Open in 2012.
Unlike other regular golf tournaments, Simone Asia Pacific Cup features a ground-breaking format where all 43 players form 22 teams and play for their countries too. It is a 54-hole stroke play tournament, with scores from individual players added and counted towards the team scores. The individual contest offers a prize purse of USD $500,000 while USD $250,000 has been allocated for the team competition.
Simone Asia Pacific Cup is part of the series of tournaments on the LAT Series, which teed off with its season-opening DB Group 36th Korea Women’s Open. Other tournaments on the schedule include the KRW 1,500,000,000 Hana Bank Group Championship, which will take place in September and the Hana Financial Group Singapore Women’s Open in December.
With the inclusion of already existing tournaments from Thailand and the Philippines, the LAT Series is set to have seven tournaments in 2023 and 10 tournaments in 2024.
Discussions with the Japan Golf Association (JGA) are currently underway and further opinions from the Japan Ladies Professional Golf Association (JLPGA) are also being taken into account.
For entry list and team formation, please click here.
