1979 Asia Golf Circuit

1979 Asia Golf Circuit season
Duration22 February 1979 (1979-02-22) – 22 April 1979 (1979-04-22)
Number of official events9
Most winsTaiwan Lu Hsi-chuen (3)
Order of MeritTaiwan Lu Hsi-chuen
1978
1980

The 1979 Asia Golf Circuit was the 18th season of the Asia Golf Circuit (formerly the Far East Circuit), the main professional golf tour in Asia since it was established in 1961.

Changes for 1979

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The Philippine Open was withdrawn from the circuit due to non-payment of contributions towards the overall circuit fund, however the tournament did go ahead but did not count for the circuit standings.[1][2] Along with Thailand, the Philippines had also not been forthcoming with their contributions for the previous season.[3] After the tournament, the Philippines announced their intention to reschedule the Philippine Open to December and possibly rejoin the circuit with the Philippine Masters, an invitational event which had served as warm-up event for the circuit since its inauguration in 1976,[4] however they ultimately rejoined the circuit for the 1980 season with the same tournament schedules.

Schedule

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The following table lists official events during the 1979 season.[5][6][7]

Date Tournament Host country Purse
(US$)
Winner[a] Other
tours[b]
Notes
25 Feb Cathay Pacific Hong Kong Open Hong Kong 100,000 Australia Greg Norman (n/a)
4 Mar Singapore Open Singapore 50,000 Taiwan Lu Hsi-chuen (1)
11 Mar Malaysian Open Malaysia 60,000 Taiwan Lu Hsi-chuen (2)
18 Mar Thailand Open Thailand 40,000 United States Mike Krantz (1)
25 Mar Indian Open India 30,000 United States Gaylord Burrows (2)
1 Apr Indonesia Open Indonesia 45,000 Taiwan Lu Hsi-chuen (3)
8 Apr Taiwan Open Taiwan 50,000 Taiwan Lu Liang-Huan (8)
15 Apr Korea Open South Korea 60,000 Taiwan Shen Chung-shyan (1)
22 Apr Dunlop International Open Japan 100,000 Japan Hiroshi Ishii (n/a) JPN

Unofficial events

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The following events were sanctioned by the Asia Golf Circuit, but did not carry official money, nor were wins official.

Date Tournament Host country Purse
($)
Winner Notes
11 Feb Philippine Masters Philippines 55,000 Myanmar Mya Aye Limited-field event
18 Feb Philippine Open Philippines 100,000 Philippines Ben Arda

Order of Merit

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The Order of Merit was based on tournament results during the season, calculated using a points-based system.[7]

Position Player Points
1 Taiwan Lu Hsi-chuen 142
2 Taiwan Hsu Chi-san 109
3 Taiwan Hsu Sheng-san 84
4 Taiwan Kuo Chie-Hsiung 83
5 Myanmar Mya Aye 78

Notes

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  1. ^ The number in brackets after each winner's name is the number of Asia Golf Circuit events they had won up to and including that tournament. This information is only shown for Asia Golf Circuit members.
  2. ^ JPN − PGA of Japan Tour.

References

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  1. ^ "Philippines withdraw from circuit". The Straits Times. Singapore. 12 January 1979. p. 31. Retrieved 4 March 2020 – via National Library Board.
  2. ^ "Lack of competition, so pros leave for PI". The Straits Times. Singapore. 14 February 1979. p. 22. Retrieved 4 March 2020 – via National Library Board.
  3. ^ McCormack, Mark H. (1979). Dunhill Golf Yearbook 1979. Doubleday. pp. 227–243, 376–385. ISBN 0385149409. Retrieved 8 November 2023 – via Archive.org.
  4. ^ "New $420,000 PI open". New Nation. Singapore. AFP. 20 February 1979. p. 17. Retrieved 4 March 2020 – via National Library Board.
  5. ^ "Taiwan's Lu first rookie to win three golf titles". The Straits Times. Singapore. Reuter. 25 April 1979. p. 32. Retrieved 4 March 2020 – via National Library Board.
  6. ^ McCormack, Mark H. (1980). Dunhill Golf Yearbook 1980. Springwood Books. pp. 205–232, 371–379. ISBN 0905947835.
  7. ^ a b Simms, George (1980). World of Golf 1980. Macdonald and Jane's. pp. 142–146. ISBN 0362020078.