1981 Asia Golf Circuit

The 1981 Asia Golf Circuit was the 20th season of golf tournaments that comprised the Asia Golf Circuit.[1]

Taiwan's Lu Hsi-chuen was the circuit champion, ahead of compatriot Ho Ming-chung and Americans, Payne Stewart and Tom Sieckmann. With the title, Lu also gained exemption into the U.S. Open; he and Ho gained entry into the World Series of Golf; and all four gained invitations to The Open Championship.[2]

In 1978, Papua New Guinea had joined joined the Asian Golf Confederation with the intention of adding a tournament to the circuit in 1980.[3][4] These plans were postponed and the tournament was then provisionally scheduled to start the 1981 season,[5] but Papua New Guinea withdrew from the circuit later in the year.[6]

After several years of the Indian Open clashing with the Malaysian Dunlop Masters, the Malaysian Golf Association managed to get the organisers, Dunlop Malaysia, to agree to reschedule their event.[7] However, the organisers of the Rolex Masters in Singapore controversially then organised their tournament for the same dates.[8]

Tournament schedule

The table below shows the 1981 Asian Golf Circuit schedule.[9] With the abandonment of plans for a tournament in Papua New Guinea, there were no changes from the 1980 schedule, with the order of the tournaments also remaining the same.

DateTournamentCountryPrize
fund (US$)		WinnerNotesRefs
22 FebPhilippine OpenPhilippines150,000 Tom Sieckmann[10]
1 MarHong Kong OpenHong Kong120,000 Chen Tze-ming[11]
8 MarThailand OpenThailand60,000 Tom Sieckmann[12]
16 MarIndian OpenIndia60,000 Payne StewartHeld the same week as the Rolex Masters in Singapore.[13]
22 MarMalaysian OpenMalaysia75,000 Lu Hsi-chuen[14]
29 MarSingapore OpenSingapore70,000 Mya Aye[15]
5 AprIndonesia OpenIndonesia60,000 Payne Stewart[16]
12 AprTaiwan OpenTaiwan100,000 Ho Ming-chung[17]
19 AprKorean OpenSouth Korea70,000 Chen Tze-ming[18]
26 AprDunlop International OpenJapan140,000 Kosaku ShimadaCo-sanctioned with Japan Golf Tour[19][2]

Final standings

The Asia Golf Circuit operated a points based system to determine the overall circuit champion, with points being awarded in each tournament to the leading players. In 1981 point allocations were changed, with 120 points available to the winner at each tournament, up from 20 in 1980. At the end of the season, the player with the most points was declared the circuit champion, and there was a prize pool to be shared between the top players in the points table.

#PlayerPoints[2]
1 Lu Hsi-chuen712.5
2 Ho Ming-chung697
3 Payne Stewart690
4 Tom Sieckmann674.5
5 Chen Tze-ming626.5

References
  1. Steel, Donald (1987). Golf Records, Facts and Champions. Guinness. pp. 153–155. ISBN 0851128475.
  2. "Shimada takes Dunlop title". The Business Times. Singapore. Reuter. 27 April 1981. p. 17 – via National Library Board.
  3. "Asian circuit expands". The Straits Times. Singapore. 20 March 1978. p. 22. Retrieved 20 February 2020 – via National Library Board.
  4. "PNG golfers enter big league". Papua New Guinea Post-courier. Papua New Guinea. 12 April 1978. p. 40. Retrieved 20 February 2020 – via Trove.
  5. "PNG on Asian circuit". Papua New Guinea Post-courier. International, Australia. 30 April 1980. p. 40. Retrieved 4 March 2020 – via Trove.
  6. "PNG pull out from circuit". The Straits Times. Singapore. 18 October 1980. p. 37. Retrieved 20 February 2020 – via National Library Board.
  7. "Dunlop Masters put off". The Straits Times. Singapore. 14 January 1981. p. 37. Retrieved 4 March 2020 – via National Library Board.
  8. "Fireworks in store for SGA at meeting". The Straits Times. Singapore. 21 March 1981. p. 38. Retrieved 4 March 2020 – via National Library Board.
  9. McCormack, Mark H. (1979). Dunhill Golf Yearbook 1979. Doubleday Publishing. pp. 222–234, 439–449. ISBN 0385149409.
  10. "Sieckmann wins open by four strokes". The Straits Times. Singapore. 23 February 1981. p. 29. Retrieved 16 March 2020 – via National Library Board.
  11. "Taiwan's Chen fires splendid 69 to triumph". The Straits Times. Singapore. 2 March 1981. p. 30. Retrieved 16 March 2020 – via National Library Board.
  12. "Sieckmann triumphs in Thai open". The Straits Times. Singapore. 9 March 1981. p. 30. Retrieved 16 March 2020 – via National Library Board.
  13. "Stewart battles pain to triumph". The Straits Times. Singapore. 17 March 1981. p. 32. Retrieved 16 March 2020 – via National Library Board.
  14. "Lu survives duel to win Malaysian open". The Straits Times. Singapore. 23 March 1981. p. 38. Retrieved 16 March 2020 – via National Library Board.
  15. "Mya charges in to victory". The Straits Times. Singapore. 30 March 1981. p. 30. Retrieved 3 March 2020 – via National Library Board.
  16. "Stewart wins Indon Open". The Straits Times. Singapore. 6 April 1981. p. 28. Retrieved 16 March 2020 – via National Library Board.
  17. "Veteran Ho captures Taiwan open". The Straits Times. Singapore. 13 April 1981. p. 30. Retrieved 16 March 2020 – via National Library Board.
  18. "Chen takes title by one stroke". The Straits Times. Singapore. 20 April 1981. p. 33. Retrieved 16 March 2020 – via National Library Board.
  19. "Shimada shimmers Dunlop open". The Straits Times. Singapore. 27 April 1981. p. 35. Retrieved 16 March 2020 – via National Library Board.
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