AUCKLAND (Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship): Randy Bintang and Rayhan Latief emerged as the leading Indonesians with rounds of 2-over 73s on the first day of the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship at Te Arai Links on Thursday.
Randy hit an eagle and two birdies but with winds buffeting from the Pacific Ocean, his card included six bogeys, while Rayhan traded five birdies against seven bogeys in the 17th edition of the Championship, where the winner earns coveted spots in the Masters and The Open.
Defending champion Fifa Laopakdee of Thailand fired a scintillating 63 to open up a three-shot lead from Joshua Bai of New Zealand, with two other Kiwis Ryan Xie and Cooper Moore sharing third place with 67s.
Indonesia’s other representatives, Jayawardana Dornan (76), Kenneth Sutianto (83), Asa Nasa Bhakti (85) and William Justin Wijaya (86) will fight with their hands on Friday to make the halfway cut.
Making his fifth start, Randy conceded the winds wreaked havoc on his game.
“It was blowing all day since this morning. We had like rain three times today, and we're just playing our best out here. I played in Royal Melbourne in 2023, but we have not played in anything like this. In Indonesia, the wind is not as strong,” said Randy.
“Like on hole 8 into the wind, it was like 150 yards kind of shot and I used a 5-iron. It was brutal.”
Randy’s highlight of the round was an eagle-3 on the par-5 7th hole. “It was from the bunker actually into the wind. Just one bounce and then it's in the hole,” he said of the hole-out.
“Need to improve the putting. With this wind, it's kind of hard. Need to think about the start lines more on the putting green with this wind, which is going to affect the ball and everything.” -- Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship
