Friday, January 27, 2012

Asia Pacific Golf Summit Heads To Oil-Rich Sultanate Of Brunei

Bandar Seri Begawan (Brunei), January 26 - The 2012 Asia Pacific Golf Summit (APGS) will be staged in the oil-rich state of Brunei. European golfing legend Colin Montgomerie will be among the keynote speakers at the sixth edition of the Summit, now firmly established as one of the world’s leading business gatherings for the golf industry.

The luxurious, six-star Empire Hotel and Country Club will be the venue for the three-day Summit, from December 11-13. The facility, with its Jack Nicklaus-designed course, is a two-time winner of the Best Golf Resort in Asia Pacific category in the Asian Golf Monthly Awards.

The participation of Montgomerie, an eight-time European Tour Order of Merit champion and captain of Europe’s triumphant Ryder Cup team in 2010, is certain to add spice to the occasion.

Mike Sebastian, Chief Executive Officer of the Asia Pacific Golf Group, owner and producer of the acclaimed APGS, said: “We are delighted to have Colin as a special celebrity keynote speaker. Besides adding a tremendous touch of class to the Summit, he is certain to stimulate delegates and guests with his forthright views on a wide variety of topics affecting the industry.”

APGS is an annual high-level gathering dedicated to the business and operational aspects of the golf industry in the Asia Pacific region. Notable past speakers who have addressed the Summit include Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, Peter Thomson, Greg Norman, Annika Sorenstam, Tony Jacklin and Robert Trent Jones II.

Montgomerie will now join that illustrious list. ‘Monty’, as he is popularly known, has had a spectacular career, including a streak of seven consecutive Order of Merit successes from 1993 to 1999, and 31 European Tour victories, placing him fourth on the all-time list. His career high world ranking was second.

He’s enjoyed plenty of success in Asia with wins in the Macau Open, Hong Kong Open and Singapore Masters, among others. In recent years, he’s begun to make a name for himself as a promising course designer. Arguably his finest work has come at The Montgomerie Links in Danang, voted Best Course in Vietnam for the past two years in the Asian Golf Monthly Awards.

Moving to the Sultanate of Brunei, a new dimension will be added to the 2012 APGS as it will be staged in conjunction with the Royal Trophy, the inter-continental team match play challenge between eight-strong line-ups from Asia and Europe. Featuring teams captained by Japan’s Naomichi ‘Joe’ Ozaki and Spaniard Jose Maria Olazabal, the sixth Royal Trophy will take place from December 14-16, directly after the Summit.

Sebastian said: “By staging these two world-class events together, we are actually creating an unmatched golf spectacle of global proportions – the coming together of the best in a golf business event and a golf tournament.”

Those sentiments were echoed by Desmond Acheson, General Manager, Empire Hotel and Country Club. He said: “We are extremely delighted to be able to play host to these two stellar events and we strongly believe that by staging both the events together we will be creating a not-to-be-missed world-class golf classic for the global golf trade and golf fans.”

1 comment:

  1. This is quite good. I too use to stay in the golf industry news , which is an excellent place to retire.

    ReplyDelete