Golf

Nguyễn Anh Minh in action at the Kor-Viet LSG Invitational 2024 in Hài Phòng on February 16. He will compete in three tournaments in the US this year. — Photos of VGA

HÀ NỘI — Việt Nam Masters champion Nguyễn Anh Minh will have a busy new year as he has been invited to compete in three prestigious tournaments in the US in 2024.

Minh, 16, will first take part in the Junior Invitational 2024 from March 17-23 at the Sage Valley Golf Club, Graniteville, South Carolina.

The tournament will feature leading amateur players and also famous guests such as Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy, Brooks Koepka and Jason Day.

The second event is the 28th Terra Cotta Invitational at the Naples National Golf Club in Florida from April 19-21. Most of this year's participants are in the world top 100.

Many golfers have gained their reputations after winning this 54-hole tournament which was first organised in 1996. Among them are Matt Kuchar, Peter Uihlein, Justin Thomas and Caleb Surratt.

The third one is the Western Amateur Championship from July 29 to August 3 at the Moraine Country Club, Dayton, Ohio.

It debuted in 1899, four years after the US Amateur, and recorded victories of legends including Jack Nicklaus (1961), Phil Mickelson (1991) and Tiger Woods (1994).

The national No 1 amateur golfer just won the Kor-Viet LSG Invitational 2024 on February 16 after a one-month training course at the Golf Story Winter CAMP 2023 which was held at the Terra Lago Course in California.

It was his first time practising abroad where he played against pro golfers from world golf hubs of South Korea, India and Canada, as well as European elite athletes who were competing at the Division 1 system of the local universities.

Nguyễn Đặng Sơn, Minh's father, manager and caddie, said the Terra Lago was the best course for practising for the Vietnamese player. Minh accessed and trained with premium quality equipment and facility and international-standard coaches. They helped him improve weekly.

Nguyễn Anh Minh holds the Vietnam Masters trophy, one of many titles he won in 2023.

The American invitations came after the teenager had a brilliant 2023, gaining success in both local and international competitions.

He was the first Vietnamese winning the Faldo Series Asia Final in April, after taking second position in the Lexus Challenge.

He helped Việt Nam take team event silver and men's singles bronze at the 32nd SEA Games in May. Together with Asia-Pacific teammates, Minh won the Bonallack Trophy in August.

Two months later, he lifted the Vietnam Master trophy. Minh was the best Vietnamese competitor at the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship since its inauguration in 2009, finishing at seventh place, in October.

He took second prize at the Faldo Junior Tour Europe Grand Final in November and third prize at the Malaysian Amateur Open in December.

Minh was announced as Việt Nam's Best Male Golfer of 2023 in a ceremony earlier this month. — VNS