Golf 

Champion Nguyễn Tuấn Anh is one of five Vietnamese golfers at the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship (AAC) 2025 next month in Dubai. Photo courtesy VGA

HÀ NỘI — Việt Nam’s top golfers are set to tee up history as national champion Nguyễn Tuấn Anh leads a five-strong squad into the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship (AAC) 2025 next month in Dubai.

Anh is among five Vietnamese players invited by organisers to contest the 16th edition at the Majlis Course of Emirates Golf Club from October 23 to 26.

Joining him are US Junior runner-up Nguyễn Anh Minh, SEA Games champion Lê Khánh Hưng, former national winner Nguyễn Đức Sơn and rising star Hồ Anh Huy.

In the World Amateur Golf Rankings, Minh sits at No 37, Anh at No 209, Hưng at No 276, Huy at No 332 and Sơn at No 506.

It will be Minh’s fourth appearance, Sơn’s second and the first for the others. Last year Sơn missed the cut while Minh finished 19th, his best being seventh in 2023 — Vietnam’s highest-ever placing at the tournament.

“We had our first conversation with Augusta National and The R&A about bringing the AAC to Dubai in 2016,” said Chief Executive Officer of Dubai Golf Chris May.

“The idea was always to have it at the Majlis Course of Emirates Golf Club, given its significance to the region and its status. It’s been nine years since then, but the Championship is finally coming to the Majlis, and it is all very, very exciting for us.”

Dubai Golf owns and operates Emirates Golf Club as well as several other leading courses in the UAE.

Hole 7 of the Emirates Golf Club's Majlis course. Photo aacgolf.com

“It’s a huge privilege for us,” added May. “Part of their mandate is to move the Championship around, but also to bring it to the best courses globally. And they felt that the Majlis Course was the home of golf in the Middle East, and therefore, it would be very fitting to host this event on the Majlis.

"We cannot wait for the best amateur players of the region to take on a golf course which has a roll of honour that includes names like Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy, Seve Ballesteros, Ernie Els and Nick Faldo. We hope to provide a full Dubai experience to them, the visiting delegates and the fans this year.”

The Majlis Course, host venue of the annual Dubai Desert Classic on the DP World Tour, is considered the pride of the Middle East. Designed by Karl Litten and opened to the public in March 1988, it was the region’s first ‘green’ golf course and has since become central to various Tours by staging world-class tournaments and attracting sponsorship support. The UAE is home to three of the five elevated Rolex Series events on the DP World Tour.

“Having the event in October is, in many ways, a great thing because the course will be played as a full Bermuda golf course. We will not overseed the golf course. We normally do that now in December for the Desert Classic,” explained May.

The AAC was first staged in 2009 by the Asia-Pacific Golf Confederation (APGC) in partnership with the Masters Tournament and The R&A.

It provides a pathway to professional golf, with the winner receiving an invitation to the Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club and an exemption into The Open Championship at a Royal & Ancient-managed venue.

The champion of the 2025 AAC will compete in The 154th Open at Royal Birkdale with the runner-up earning a place in Final Qualifying for The Open. VNS