All 24 Aussies teeing it up at Asian Tour Q School

Two of this season’s ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia tournament winners are among the 24 Australians teeing it up across two venues of Asian Tour Qualifying School in Thailand starting Wednesday.

Starved of international Q School opportunities amidst the travel restrictions imposed globally the past three years, veterans, rookies and rising amateurs will put their games on the line for the right to play in Final Stage next week and potentially earn a 2023 Asian Tour card.

Led by West Australian Hayden Hopewell, five Aussies advanced to Final Stage last week from Section C and there are seven Aussies and two Kiwis at Section D at Thana City Country Club and there are 17 Aussies and two more New Zealanders competing in Section E at Springfield Royal Country Club.

Among the Aussie contingent are current season champions Tom Power Horan (pictured, left) and Aaron Wilkin (pictured, right).

Ahead of the resumption of the 2022/2023 season with TPS Victoria from January 26, Power Horan and Wilkin are both seeking to advance their careers on to the international stage.

Power Horan won a second Gippsland Super 6 title prior to the Christmas break while Wilkin’s maiden Tour win came with a playoff triumph at the Queensland PGA Championship at Nudgee.

Riding the confidence of a second Portsea Pro-Am win just last week, Peter Wilson is chasing a return to tournament play in Asia as is fellow Victorian James Marchesani, who had three top-five finishes on the PGA China Tour in 2019.

Other Aussies looking to take the step onto the global stage include John Lyras, Blake Collyer, Brett Rankin, Matias Sanchez, Charlie Dann and Doug Klein while Dylan Perry is hoping to add to the Japan Golf Tour card he regained at Q School in December.

A three-time winner on the PGA China Tour in 2018, Nick Voke leads the Kiwi charge which includes 2022 Australian Amateur runner-up and world No.49 amateur James Hydes.

Round 1 tee times AEDT
Asian Tour Qualifying School (Section D)
Thana City Country Club, Thailand
11am*  Nick Voke (NZ), Enhua Liu, Hyowon Park
11.10am             Nathan Buzimkic, Jaepil Jung, Pieter Moolma
11.50am             Peter Wilson, MJ Viljoen, Jinhyeong Baek (a)
12pm    Andre Lautee, Daniel Erickson, Juwon Kang
12.30pm*           Aaron Wilkin, Andrea Saracino, Gyumin Lee
3.50pm Bond Chan (a), Uihyeon Jeong, Pisitchai Thippong
3.40pm*             James Marchesani, Gampoong Park (a), Gowoong Choi
4.10pm*             Doeun An, Visarut Paripunna, Jaewon Shin
4.50pm*             Mark Hutson (NZ), Philip Ritchie, Sungjin Noh

Asian Tour Qualifying School (Section E)
Springfield Royal Country Club, Thailand
11.10am             Darshan Shivalkar (a), Abs Mawji, Lai Chia-i
11.30am             Lachlan Armour, Jake Vincent, Sangtae Park
11.30am*           Aiden Didone, Drikus Joubert, Jaehun Jeong
11.40am             Jeremy Fuchs, Wynand Dingle, Donghwan Hwang
12pm    Scott Adams (NZ), Andy Choi, Yongyu Kwon
12.20pm             Ed Donoghue, Luca Filippi, Seongyun Jo
12.30pm*           Jeongwoo Ha, Donovan Liddicoat (a), Soobin Lee
12.50pm*           Blake Collyer, Kodai Ichihara, Ben Robinson
1pm*    Ben Eccles, Sungyeol Kwon, Jakkanat Inmee
3.20pm*             Doug Klein, Isaac Lam (a), Dongmin Ro
3.30pm James Hydes (NZ, a), Matthew Kang, Liu Zehao
3.30pm*             Dylan Perry, Rigardt Albertse, Junghwan Lee
4pm      Tom Power Horan, Paul Harris, Rakhyun Cho
4.10pm*             Darcy Brereton, Jaehwan Kim, Zhang Jin
4.30pm John Lyras, Salvador Paya-Vila, Kiwon You
4.30pm*             Charlie Dann, Eugene Wong, Jungho Won
4.40pm Brett Rankin, Papito Gonzalez, Beomsoo Kim
4.40pm*             Matias Sanchez, Hwijun Kim, Hugo Esposito
4.50pm Chris Crabtree, Dechawat Phetprayoon, Jungdo Won

* Starting from 10th tee