Phokeetra Country Club in Siem ReapCambodia will host its inaugural golf tournament near one of the world's famous historical sites next week
Saturday November 24, 2007
Story By WANCHAI RUJAWONGSANTI
Bangkok Post
Cambodia will hold its first international golf tournament - the Johnnie Walker Cambodia Open - next week as concerned parties believe it will help boost the country's tourism industry and golf development.
Fittingly, the historic event will take place at Phokeethra Country Club in Siem Reap near Angkor Wat, one of the world's best known historical sites.
While the Cambodia Open is just a US$300,000 event which is dwarfed by multi-million dollar tournaments on the Asian Tour in recent weeks, it is an important competition for Tour players.
It is the penulminate event on the Asian Tour this year and players will be vying for top honours on the Order of Merit or to retain their Tour cards.
The organisers believe the inaugural Cambodia Open which tees off on Thursday will pave the way for the growth and development of golf in the country.
They say Cambodia's first professional golf event will provide the platform for aspiring amateurs to make an impact in the tournament. Leading amateurs from across the region will rub shoulders with the best players on the Asian Tour.
The tournament also aims to place Cambodia firmly on the international golfing map, unearth new home-grown talent and ultimately create a breed of champions from Cambodia.
"The game of golf continues to prosper in Asia," said Asian Tour executive chairman Kyi Hla Han. "We are confident this tournament will act as a launch pad for exciting talent to emerge from Cambodia."
Amateurs from Cambodia, Vietnam, Thailand, China and India will be invited to compete in the tournament.
Besides enhancing the professional golf landscape in Cambodia, the tournament is also expected to give sports tourism a major boost with the full support from Cambodia's Ministry of Tourism.
"With this event, we believe that it will show our commitment to the rest of the world our support for sports tourism in our country," said Tourism Minister Thong Khon.
"The combination of our historical tourist sites together with international sporting events like this will certainly give us an opportunity to welcome more visitors to our country - Home of World Heritage."
Phokeethra Country Club itself is steeped in the history of the region. Within its grounds stands an ancient Roluh bridge dating back to a Khmer empire in the 11th century AD and is older than the famous Angkor Wat which is located in Siem Reap.
It is said that the bridge once formed part of the ancient route that connected the Phimai ruins in Thailand with Angkor Wat.
Initially, the course was built with the purpose of serving clients at the Sofitel Phokeethra Royal Angkor Golf & Spa Resort, said Supachai Verapuchong, managing director of both the golf course and the hotel.
The idea of organising a golf tournament at Phokeethra was raised by a Cambodian journalist at a press conference to open the course last year.
Supachai later consulted the Asian Tour which agreed to fund half of the US$300,000 total prize money.
He then asked his friend who is a Johnnie Walker executive in Bangkok to sponsor the tournament. The executive was hesitant and did not give him a reply for a long time.
However, at a gala dinner earlier this year attended by a number of VIPs including Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, Supachai told the executive that if he was willing to sponsor the tournament he would announce this before the guests.
Stunned by Supachai's move, the executive had no choice - and the Cambodia Open was born.
Supachai says a large number of foreign journalists are expected to cover the event. "Many of them will want to find out whether Cambodia which is new to golf can hold an international golf tournament," he said.
For his part, Supachai firmly believes Cambodia will be able to organise a golf tournament which will be there to stay on the Asian Tour's calendar.
Saturday November 24, 2007
Story By WANCHAI RUJAWONGSANTI
Bangkok Post
Cambodia will hold its first international golf tournament - the Johnnie Walker Cambodia Open - next week as concerned parties believe it will help boost the country's tourism industry and golf development.
Fittingly, the historic event will take place at Phokeethra Country Club in Siem Reap near Angkor Wat, one of the world's best known historical sites.
While the Cambodia Open is just a US$300,000 event which is dwarfed by multi-million dollar tournaments on the Asian Tour in recent weeks, it is an important competition for Tour players.
It is the penulminate event on the Asian Tour this year and players will be vying for top honours on the Order of Merit or to retain their Tour cards.
The organisers believe the inaugural Cambodia Open which tees off on Thursday will pave the way for the growth and development of golf in the country.
They say Cambodia's first professional golf event will provide the platform for aspiring amateurs to make an impact in the tournament. Leading amateurs from across the region will rub shoulders with the best players on the Asian Tour.
The tournament also aims to place Cambodia firmly on the international golfing map, unearth new home-grown talent and ultimately create a breed of champions from Cambodia.
"The game of golf continues to prosper in Asia," said Asian Tour executive chairman Kyi Hla Han. "We are confident this tournament will act as a launch pad for exciting talent to emerge from Cambodia."
Amateurs from Cambodia, Vietnam, Thailand, China and India will be invited to compete in the tournament.
Besides enhancing the professional golf landscape in Cambodia, the tournament is also expected to give sports tourism a major boost with the full support from Cambodia's Ministry of Tourism.
"With this event, we believe that it will show our commitment to the rest of the world our support for sports tourism in our country," said Tourism Minister Thong Khon.
"The combination of our historical tourist sites together with international sporting events like this will certainly give us an opportunity to welcome more visitors to our country - Home of World Heritage."
Phokeethra Country Club itself is steeped in the history of the region. Within its grounds stands an ancient Roluh bridge dating back to a Khmer empire in the 11th century AD and is older than the famous Angkor Wat which is located in Siem Reap.
It is said that the bridge once formed part of the ancient route that connected the Phimai ruins in Thailand with Angkor Wat.
Initially, the course was built with the purpose of serving clients at the Sofitel Phokeethra Royal Angkor Golf & Spa Resort, said Supachai Verapuchong, managing director of both the golf course and the hotel.
The idea of organising a golf tournament at Phokeethra was raised by a Cambodian journalist at a press conference to open the course last year.
Supachai later consulted the Asian Tour which agreed to fund half of the US$300,000 total prize money.
He then asked his friend who is a Johnnie Walker executive in Bangkok to sponsor the tournament. The executive was hesitant and did not give him a reply for a long time.
However, at a gala dinner earlier this year attended by a number of VIPs including Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, Supachai told the executive that if he was willing to sponsor the tournament he would announce this before the guests.
Stunned by Supachai's move, the executive had no choice - and the Cambodia Open was born.
Supachai says a large number of foreign journalists are expected to cover the event. "Many of them will want to find out whether Cambodia which is new to golf can hold an international golf tournament," he said.
For his part, Supachai firmly believes Cambodia will be able to organise a golf tournament which will be there to stay on the Asian Tour's calendar.
2 comments:
Yes, that will definitely help to promote tourists.
I hope we can get international TV coverage.
BEAUTIFUL!that's call heavenly on earth."ANANIKUM AMERICA RULES!"
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