Team Thailand emerge as the champions at the WAGC world final in Phuket and celebrate with Saminathan (third left) and Suwannarat (fourth left).
THE 28th World Amateur Golfers Championship (WAGC) world final in Phuket saw home team Thailand emerge as the team champions.
Competing with 37 nations, the Thai contingent showed outstanding skill and sportsmanship, claiming a second WAGC title.
The tournament was held at four golf courses: Red Mountain Golf Club, Laguna Golf Club, and Blue Canyon’s Lakes and Canyon courses.
Played with a strokeplay format across five handicap categories, Thailand’s team achieved a total score of 1,108 strokes over the four rounds.
The team members were Jantawat Hatsakit (7 handicap), Nachaya Udomdee (12), Saichon Phetnin (14) and Vivat Chotanaound (12).
South Korea finished second, while China was third.
Malaysia, the defending champions, found the competition too stiff and missed a podium finish.
Malaysia’s Mohammad Feyyaz Ashaari finished third in the individual division category 3.
In the World Amateur Golfers Invitational (WAGI) section, Team China 1 took first place with 555 nett, ahead of Spain and the Philippines pairings.
The inaugural Champion of Champions tournament, presented by Singha Corp, brought together the top 10 national teams from both the WAGC and WAGI and the top eight gross players.
Indonesia captured the WAGC Team Championship title with a 356 nett score. In the WAGI Pairs category, Team Philippines’ Romeo Lopez and Rusty Ramirez clinched victory with 145 nett.
The individual honours went to Finland’s Ilkka Jokinen, who took the gross title with a 361 total, while Malaysia’s Li Jun Gwee was second on 363.
Phuket governor Sophon Suwannarat was in attendance and handed out the prizes.
Also at the event were Tan Sri Asmat Kamaludin, chairman of Perodua, WAGC president Isac Saminathan and Johan Tumba, son of WAGC founder Swen Tumba.
Hye-Ran Kim, vice-chairwoman of South Korea’s Jeju Golf Association, presented a video screening of Jeju Island as a tribute to the host venue of the 2025 WAGC world final.
