GOLF ASIA 31We sanctioned 29 events on themain tour and 20 events on the
Asian Development Tour across 20
countries, including some as far away
as Fiji, South Africa and Pakistan.
Many of our members took part in the
World Super 6 Perth, which provided
an innovative and entertaining format.
The Asian Tour is clearly on the rise.
We will be working even harder in
2018 to expand our global influence
across Asia and beyond.
Looking back on 2017, some of our key
achievements were:
- Signing the strategic partnership
with the China Golf Association
in March and then successfully
holding our first event in China in
December, following a nine-year
absence in this vital market. - Restoring relations with the Korea
Golf Association, which brings
back the Kolon Korea Open and
Maekyung Open tournaments from
2018 onwards. - Becoming the first Tour outside of
Europe to become an affiliate of the
R&A. - Bringing Panasonic on board as
a Tour partner and creating the
“Panasonic Swing.” - Expanding our partnership with
Rolex, enabling us to stage the
Asian Tour Awards Gala. - Adding new media partnerships
with the Wall Street Journal, GOLF
Korea, Golf Digest - India and Golf Asia to enhance
the Asian Tour’s image in several
important markets. - Including the Royal Cup held during
the last week of 2017, sanctioning
five more tournaments on the main
tour schedule in 2017 compared to
2016.
Inside the ropes, Malaysia’s GavinGreen made history as our first ever
Order of Merit Champion from Malaysia.
His potential is immense. At age 23,
Green is our second youngest Order
of Merit champion after Noh Seung-
yul. Gavin spearheads a large crop of
ultra-talented Asian Tour players who are
under the age of 30.
Out of the 28 winners that we have on
Tour this year, 16 are under the age of30, which is an impressive proportion.
They include Jazz Janewattananond,
Micah Shin and Shubhankar Sharma,
who are all in their early twenties.
Once again, I would like to thank every
one of you for your support!Gavin Green, the 2017 Order of Merit Champion