As the venue for three national amateur events in the form of the Vietnam Amateur Open, Vietnam Ladies Open and the Vietnam Junior Open over a two week period, KN Golf Links proved to be an excellent venue of choice by the Vietnam Golf Association. With many of the competitors experiencing the acclaimed links for the first time in its first full year of operation the course did not disappoint. Added to by the fantastic golf on show which provided many highlights over the course of the two weeks, in particular by many of the countries and regions young stars who showed that the game has a bright future by their individual performances.
Week one saw the consecutive running of the Men’s and ladies events for the first time in their history being run in conjunction. As expected, the men’s event was a closely fought affair until the final round with the eventual winner coming in the form of Pyae Phyothu from Myanmar, who edged out close competition with an excellent four round total of 2 under par. Myanmar players dominated the final days play, taking runner up and third spots as Hlaing Min Htet and Thiha Myo rounded of a sweep of the top prizes for Burmese players.
The ladies event run over three days of competition provided an intriguing final round as the lead was exchanged between Hong Kong’s Mimi Ho and another Burmese star in the form of Phu Pwint Yaki Khine. After a fantastic battle through the final round, Mimi Ho came out as winner to be crowned as ladies champion in tough conditions which highlighted the quality of the golf on show. Home grown talent Ms Nguyen Thao My had to settle for an excellent third place with a total of 3 over par, a wonderful performance only overshadowed by the quality of golf from the top two.
With many of the young competitors staying on for the second weeks event, the Vietnam Junior Open the players where now developing the knowledge of how to plot their way around the demanding links course. Highlighted by the various individual performances but in particular by the winner Ms. Hanako Kawasaki who stormed to victory in the final round as she blitzed her way round the course, setting a new course record of 64 (-8) to win her second title after her previous victory in 2017. Another impressive personnel performance came from one of the youngest players in the field as 12 year old, Doan Uy showed maturity beyond his years to finish in second place with a total of one over par. Another Vietnamese star in the making Tran Lam returned to KN Links after his appearance in the Greg Norman Rising Stars event only a weeks earlier, to highlight his pedigree with a rewarding third place finish.
Overall there were many great performances throughout the three events, which where undoubtably dominated by the regions young talent demonstrating that the game in the region is in safe hands with a bright future.