Ladies Asian Tour: Hong Kong pair to take on region’s best at inaugural Simone Asia Pacific Cup

Major winners Lydia Ko and Hyojoo Kim will battle it out for personal and team glory at the inaugural Simone Asia Pacific Cup in Indonesia next month.

The pair are in a field of 40 golfers from 16 nations and territories at the Ladies Asian Tour Series event in Jakarta, which is taking place during a week-long celebration of the women’s game in the region.

Tiffany Chan and Ginnie Ding will represent Hong Kong during the US$750,000 54-hole stroke play tournament, which will be held at the Pondok Indah Golf Course between August 18 and 20.

Currently fifth and eighth on the Women’s World Golf Rankings, New Zealander Ko and Kim, of South Korea, are the highest-ranked players taking part, but will face a stern test from the likes of Soyeon Ryu, who has won six times on the LPGA Tour, and Yealimi Noh, of the United States, who finished an impressive third at the Evian Championship last year.

Ko will be partnered by rookie professional Momoka Kobori, while Youmin Hwang, the current world No 3 amateur, will join Kim, Ryu and Bomee Lee in the South Korea teams.

The Simone Asia Pacific Cup is part of the series of tournaments on the Ladies Asian Tour (LAT) Series, which teed off with its season-opening DB Group 36th Korea Women’s Open in June.

Other tournaments on the schedule include the Hana Bank Group Championship, which will take place in September and the Hana Financial Group Singapore Women’s Open in December.

The LAT series is projected to host existing tournaments from Thailand and the Philippines. Seven tournaments are expected to be organised by the Asia Pacific Golf Platform (APGP) in 2023, expanding to 10 tournaments in 2024.

During the tournament week, presidents from 15 APAC golf associations will attend a host of conferences bringing together industry leaders to discuss developing and energising women’s golf in the Asia Pacific.

“We are looking forward to hosting our first ever competition in Indonesia and we’re already putting in our best efforts to stage a quality event,” said Kang Hyungmo, the APGP president and former vice-president of the Korean Professional Golf Association. “We are also confident this competition will contribute to the development of women’s golf in this region.”