Sports Desk
Pakistan’s three-man team is set for the 17th Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship (AAC), to be played at Te Arai Links’ South Course in Tomarata, New Zealand, from October 29 to November 1. The winner earns invitations to the 2027 Masters Tournament and The Open at St Andrews.
The Team
Saad Habib Malik (Islamabad) is Pakistan’s highest-ranked entrant, currently 252nd in the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR) with a career-best of 232nd, nine WAGR wins and 19 top-10 finishes. The 20-year-old, a freshman at the University of Texas at San Antonio, will join the squad from the United States. He has won the Pakistan Junior Amateur four years running, claimed the 64th Pakistan Amateur in September 2025 with a final-round comeback, and was runner-up at the 2025 Dallas Amateur and Sri Lanka Amateur. This is his second AAC start.
Numan Ilyas (Lahore) is ranked 380th in the WAGR, with a career-best of 300th, four WAGR wins and 21 top-10 finishes. He won the 2026 Punjab Amateur and three WAGR events in 2025. This is his third AAC appearance.
Hussain Hamid (Lahore) is ranked 527th in the WAGR, with a career-best of 314th, three WAGR wins and 11 top-10 finishes. He won the 2025 Chairman WAPDA Amateur, added two WAGR top-10s earlier this year, and represented Pakistan at the 2024 APGC Team Championship in Vietnam. This is his third AAC start.
Travel and Schedule
The team departs Lahore on October 25, travelling via Dubai to Auckland, and is due to arrive around midday on October 26. Practice rounds are scheduled for October 27 and 28, ahead of the opening round on October 29.
Golf Course Challenges
Te Arai South is a par-72 links course running through sand dunes along the Pacific coast, ranked among the world’s top 40 courses. Firm, fast fescue turf and exposed ocean-side holes make wind management and precise iron play decisive. Links conditions of this kind are unfamiliar to most Pakistani players, who compete mainly on inland parkland courses.
A Strong Field
About 120 players from 40 APGC member organizations will compete, led by defending champion Fifa Laopakdee of Thailand. The stakes are high: the champion earns Masters and Open invitations, the runner-up(s) enter The Open Qualifying Series, and the top three earn exemption into The Amateur Championship.
Preparation Concerns
Unlike teams from several other Asian nations, which have held training and coaching camps ahead of the championship, Pakistan’s players are travelling without any organised preparation camp. The team is also currently without a national golf coach. With only two practice rounds on arrival, the players will largely rely on their own preparation and individual experience.
Despite these constraints, the trio’s ranking records and tournament-winning form give Pakistan reason for cautious optimism, with Saad Habib Malik, ranked 252nd, the team’s strongest hope.
