The Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship was created in February 2009 as a joint initiative to develop the game by the Asia Pacific Golf Confederation, the Masters Tournament and The R&A. An invitation to play in the Masters Tournament and The Open is given to the winner, while both the runner(s)-up gain a place in The Open Qualifying Series. The typical 120-player field is annually comprised of the top male amateurs in the Asia-Pacific region representing the 40 Asia Pacific Golf Confederation member organisations. Korean Han Chang-won triumphed at the inaugural event in China in 2009, before Hideki Matsuyama won in his native Japan in 2010 and successfully defended his title in Singapore the following year. Hediki Matsuyama would go on to become the event's first major champion, winning the 2021 Masters Tournament. At 14 years old, Guan Tianlang of China won the fourth edition of the event in 2012, while Lee Chang-woo from South Korea claimed the title the next year in China. Australian Antonio Murdaca became the next champion in 2014 at The Royal Melbourne Golf Club. In the 2015 AAC at The Clearwater Bay Golf and Country Club in Hong Kong, Chinese No. 1-ranked amateur golfer, Jin Cheng fired a course-record 8-under 62 in the first round and followed with solid play to win. Australia’s Curtis Luck, then the world’s second-ranked amateur, overcame a seven-stroke deficit to secure a one-shot victory over compatriot Brett Coletta at the eighth Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship held at Jack Nicklaus Golf Club in Korea.
