Thursday 23 / October / 2025
DUBAI: The journey that began with a shared goal to elevate golf across the region will reach New Zealand’s North Island in 2026, as Te Arai Links was named host of the 17th Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship (AAC).
Officials of the Asia-Pacific Golf Confederation (APGC), The Masters Tournament and The R&A confirmed the venue at the Emirates Golf Club in Dubai, UAE, on Thursday, underscoring the event’s continued growth and global stature.
The 16th edition teed off in Dubai on Thursday with 120 amateurs representing 43 APGC member nations competing for the top honours.
The AAC champion will earn an invitation to the following year’s Masters Tournament at Augusta National and an exemption into The 155th Open at St Andrews, while the runner-up(s) will receive a place in Final Qualifying for The Open.
The 2026 AAC Championship will mark a return to New Zealand for only the second time and a debut at Te Arai Links, a world-class course located along the North Island’s scenic coastline. Designed by Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw and opened in 2022, the par-72 South Course features 16 holes with panoramic ocean views and is already recognised among the world’s top-100 layouts.
Oman continue to make its mark at the AAC, with national team golfers Azzan Al Rumhy and Ahmed Al Wahaibi currently representing the Sultanate at the ongoing 2025 edition. Al Rumhy, making his 11th appearance, and Al Wahaibi, his third, carry Oman’s hopes in a top-class field.
Al Rumhy made his debut in 2014 and since then has been a regular face of Oman at the global competition. For Al Wahaibi, the first AAC competition was in 2021 and this is the second year in succession he is representing the Sultanate.
In the 16 years of AAC history, besides Al Rumhy and Al Wahaibi, the other Oman golfers who have competed are Hamood Al Harthy (2014), Badar Al Aamri (2019).
“We are delighted to be taking the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship back to New Zealand and to be staging it at Te Arai Links for the first time,” said Mark Darbon, Chief Executive of The R&A on Thursday. “Te Arai’s South Course is an exceptional venue and will provide a fantastic test of golf in a spectacular location.”
Over its 15-year history, the Championship has been a springboard for some of the game’s finest professionals, including two-time AAC winner and 2021 Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama, 2022 Open champion Cameron Smith, Takumi Kanaya, Keita Nakajima, Cameron Davis, and Min Woo Lee.
Collectively, AAC alumni have won 33 PGA Tour titles and more than 150 professional tournaments worldwide.
