Crowne Plaza Invitational Asia Pacific

The increasing numbers of golf tournaments does not restrict only the professional events as these days there are many competitions for amateur golfers to exhibit their skills, with the Crowne Plaza Invitational Asia Pacific among the latest ones.

Crowne Plaza, the subsidiary under the Inter Continental Hotel Group (IHG) that have been sponsoring the Asian Tour's event throughout the past three years, selected Malaysia's Saujana Golf and Country Club to host the inaugural tournament. Boasting with two beautiful courses, 6,610-yard Palm Course and 6,450-yard Bunga Kaya, the field is also the venue for the Maybank Malaysian Open.

The inaugural event, which was held during July 6 and 8, drew huge attention, with more than 80 business executives and VIPs on the contestants' list.

"We tried to merge formal and informal meeting together as we can spend time on the golf course, but can keep our business going as well," said Jan Smits, chairman of organising committee and chief operating officer in the Southern Asia and Korea of IHG.

Apart from pitting their skills against the course that has brought many well-known pros to their knees, all participants also received valuable advice, including long game, chipping, putting and personalised swing analysis, from four-member team of instructors from well-known David Leadbetter Golf Academy (DLGA). The institution has produced several recognised faces in the world's golf, including Ernie Els, Nick Price and Charles Howell III.

"The participants can take another level of golf. We hope they would have a great game of golf and a beautiful day in Kuala Lumpur," said Smits.

An unique opportunity to play in the Crowne Plaza Amateur Invitational at Colonial Club, one of the PGA Tour's top course, in Forth Worth, Texas was presented to K S Ho of South Korea.

The tournament's organisers also plan to stage the next edition at the Mission Hills Golf Club in Shenzhen, China from September 21 to 23.