Chinese No. 1-Ranked Amateur Jin Cheng Crowned 2015 AAC Champion

Date                 1-4 October 2015
Venue             The Clearwater Bay Golf & Country Club Hong Kong
Par                   35-35-70
Length            5,956 metres/6,513 yards
Designer        Thomson Perret Design
Opened          1982

Chinese No. 1-ranked amateur golfer Jin Cheng, of Beijing, was crowned champion of the 2015 Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship after high winds and heavy rainfall from a nearby typhoon forced the cancellation of the final round at The Clearwater Bay Golf & Country Club in Hong Kong.

The first group teed off as scheduled at 6:40 a.m. with nine groups making it on course for the start of round four. Play was subsequently suspended at 7:41 a.m. With conditions not improving by midday, Cheng, the 54-hole leader, became the winner over joint runners-up, Ryan Ruffels and Cameron Davis of Australia.

Cheng opened the championship with a course-record 8-under 62 in the first round, followed by rounds of 68 and 69 to finish at 11-under 199 to earn an invitation to the 2016 Masters Tournament. His victory also secured his place in The Open Qualifying Series for The Open Championship along with Davis and Ruffels, who each finished at 10 under par.

At 17 years old, Cheng managed to retain his place at the top of the leader board at the end of round three thanks to a superbly judged chip at The Clearwater Bay Golf & Country Club’s par-5 closing hole, from which he went on to secure a decisive birdie. With his win, Cheng became the second player from China to lift the AAC trophy following the triumph of Guan Tianlang in 2012.

“This win just came so fast and so sudden,” said Cheng. “I was ready for the round today, and unfortunately the weather didn’t work out, [but] it’s my pleasure to win this week. Going there [Augusta National Golf Club] next year is just amazing for me. I’m so excited and looking forward to it.”

Venue Information

The 2015 AAC marked the first time the championship was held in Hong Kong. The Clearwater Bay Golf & Country Club is located in the New Territories and situated on a peninsula with stunning views of the South China Sea and Hong Kong. The golf course is divided into two parts: the Highland Nine and the Ocean Nine.

Weather

Inclement weather caused delays in play throughout the week – during the morning of the first round and briefly in the late afternoon of the third round. High winds and heavy rainfall due to a nearby typhoon also resulted in suspended play in the morning of the final round. When conditions did not improve by midday, the fourth round was ultimately cancelled.

2015 Results

POS	NAME	NAT	R1	R2	R3	TOT
1	Jin Cheng	CHN	62	68	69	-11
2	Ryan Ruffels	AUS	69	64	67	-10
2	Cameron Davis	AUS	69	64	67	-10
4	Chun-An Yu	TPE	66	69	67	-8
4	Tae Ho Kim	KOR	66	68	68	-8
6	Antonio Murdaca	AUS	69	70	64	-7
7	Sangchai Keawcharoen	THA	67	70	67	-6
8	Lloyd Jefferson Go	PHI	70	68	67	-5
8	Joshua Munn	NZL	69	69	67	-5
8	Tae Koh	NZL	71	67	67	-5
11	Sungho Yun	KOR	69	69	68	-4
12	Atiruj Winaicharoenchai	THA	68	71	68	-3
12	Lucas Herbert	AUS	69	73	65	-3
12	Travis Smyth	AUS	66	69	72	-3
12	Shohei Hasegawa	JPN	69	65	73	-3
12	Zihan She	CHN	67	66	74	-3
17	Han Ting Chiu	TPE	71	69	68	-2
17	Ekpharit Wu	THA	67	67	74	-2
19	James Leow	SIN	70	69	70	-1
19	Gregory Foo	SIN	64	74	71	-1
19	Chi Huang	TPE	69	68	72	-1
19	Wocheng Ye	CHN	70	70	69	-1
19	Tirto Tamardi	INA	69	68	72	-1
19	Jarryd Felton	AUS	67	70	72	-1
19	Yuan-Wei Lin	TPE	69	67	73	-1
19	Nick Voke	NZL	64	71	74	-1
27	Naoyuki Kataoka	JPN	68	71	71	E
27	Kenta Konishi	JPN	68	69	73	E
27	Young Woong Kim	KOR	73	68	69	E
27	Won Jun Lee	KOR	66	71	73	E
27	Tuck Soon Chan	MAS	66	71	73	E
27	Devin Hua	GUM	65	70	75	E
27	Rongjian Tang	CHN	65	69	76	E
27	Takashi Ogiso	JPN	67	65	78	E
35	Ryan Chisnall	NZL	67	72	72	1
35	Ruperto Zaragosa III	PHI	72	68	71	1
35	Gunn Yang	KOR	69	72	70	1
35	Sadom Kaewkanjana	THA	71	64	76	1
39	Kk Limbhasut	THA	69	70	73	2
39	Luke Toomey	NZL	71	71	70	2
39	Matthew Cheung	HKG	71	64	77	2
42	Samarth Dwivedi	IND	67	73	73	3
42	Abdul Hadi	SIN	67	73	73	3
42	Toshiki Ishitoku	JPN	74	67	72	3
42	Sarit Suwannarut	THA	69	65	79	3
46	Leon Philip D’souza	HKG	71	71	72	4
47	Clement Kurniawan	INA	67	73	75	5
47	Tianlang Guan	CHN	68	73	74	5
47	Aman Raj	IND	70	72	73	5
47	Khaled Attieh	KSA	72	71	72	5
51	Khai Jei Low	MAS	71	65	80	6
51	Jerome Ng	SIN	70	72	74	6
51	Joshua Ho	SIN	70	73	73	6
54	William Howard	COK	66	75	76	7
54	Wei Lin	TPE	68	75	74	7
56	Phetnoy Siboupha	LAO	72	70	76	8
57	Ren Okazaki	JPN	73	70	76	9
58	Quan Truong	VIE	68	75	77	10
58	Joshua Shou	SIN	71	72	77	10
60	Motin Yeung	HKG	70	72	79	11
60	Kevin Caesario Akbar	INA	71	72	78	11
62	Daeng Rahman	MAS	71	72	83	16
MC	Karandeep Kochar	IND	69	75
MC	Michael Regan Wong	HKG	69	75
MC	Priyanshu Singh	IND	70	74
MC	Viraj Madappa	IND	70	74
MC	Md. Akbar	BAN	70	74
MC	Oliver Roberts	HKG	70	75
MC	Ervin Chang	MAS	71	75
MC	Md. Rasel	BAN	72	74
MC	Sithu Ye Yint	MYA	70	76
MC	Nicholas Coxon	NZL	70	77
MC	Van Wright	SAM	72	75
MC	Jobim Carlos	PHI	75	72
MC	Brian Taikiri	PNG	73	74
MC	Isaac Lam	HKG	73	75
MC	Yongxuan Yin	CHN	69	79
MC	Jae-Kyeoung Lee	KOR	75	73
MC	Taimoor Khan	PAK	75	73
MC	Maung Maung Oo	MYA	75	73
MC	G M Pradeep Kumara	SRI	75	74
MC	Yu-Chen Yeh	TPE	72	77
MC	Olaf Allen	FIJ	73	78
MC	Roneel Prakash	FIJ	75	76
MC	Galven Kendall Green	MAS	74	77
MC	Ghazanfar Mehmood	PAK	74	79
MC	Ali Abdulla Ali Shahrani	QAT	76	77
MC	Afif Razif	MAS	74	80
MC	Saud Al Sharif	KSA	77	77
MC	Veer Ahlawat	IND	75	79
MC	Saleh Al Alkaabi	QAT	76	78
MC	Sisira Kumara	SRI	80	75
MC	Naveenda Ranga	SRI	78	77
MC	N Amarapadma	SRI	80	75
MC	Karimian Noshah Hassan	IRI	79	77
MC	Naraajie Ramadan	INA	76	80
MC	Vanseiha Seng	CAM	78	80
MC	Dondovtseveen Luvsandondov	MGL	82	76
MC	Masanam Arumugam	SRI	82	76
MC	Daryl Poe	GUM	77	81
MC	Azaan Al Rumhi	OMA	79	79
MC	Soti Dinki	PNG	77	81
MC	Tshendra Dorji	BHU	78	81
MC	Sihuang Yan	MAC	82	77
MC	Malase Maifea	ASA	78	82
MC	Vasin Manibanseng	LAO	82	78
MC	Priya Hemantha	SRI	79	83
MC	Rachid Akl	LIB	86	77
MC	Alick Dalo	SOL	80	84
MC	George Rukabo	SOL	79	88
MC	Tanka B. Karki	NEP	84	83
MC	Mendsaikham Gangaa	MGL	83	85
MC	Chak Hou Tang	MAC	90	78
MC	Jozi Seyed Mahmoud	IRI	86	83
MC	Robert Aipopo Faaaliga	SAM	84	86
MC	Ugen Dorji	BHU	89	82
MC	Arun Tamang	NEP	84	90
MC	Sokhamony Thong	CAM	91	85
MC	James Herman	COK	92	90
MC	Aidarali Asanov	KGZ	103	89