The Asia-Pacific Golf Hall of Fame will serve as an institution specially designed to honour the greats of the game.
In announcing this milestone development, Mike Sebastian, managing director of Asia Pacific Golf Development Conferences (APGDC), the owner and producer of the highly acclaimed Asia Pacific Golf Summit said, “Asia now has its own heroes of golf and the time has come to honour these men and women for their outstanding contributions to golf and to the growth of the game in the region.”
“This prestigious recognition will be bestowed upon individuals who are still active in competition and those who have retired from competitive play,” Sebastian explained.
According to him, a total of six names were submitted to the review panel and three have been selected. When asked to identify the three, Sebastian replied, “This will be announced at the Gala Dinner during the Asia Pacific Golf Summit and I can assure you that each hero selected fully deserves the recognition.”
Negotiations are currently underway with the government of Thailand and a major golf course developer to permanently house the Hall of Fame in Bangkok. “We expect to have this decision by end June,” Sebastian pointed out.
The permanent Hall of Fame will also feature all past winners of the Asia-Pacific Life-Time Achievement In Golf award. To date, this award has been presented to the founder of Mission Hills, China, Dr. David Chu, Robert Trent Jones Jr, the famed golf course architect and the world’s greatest golfer, Jack Nicklaus.
“For 2010, we will be recognising South African legend, Gary Player and the Great White Shark aka Greg Norman,” Sebastian said. These awards will be presented at this year’s Asia Pacific Golf Summit scheduled to be held in Bangkok, Thailand on October 18-20.
Meanwhile, work is progressing in earnest for the staging of this Summit. “We are well on track and expect the 2010 Summit to be the biggest event of its kind yet,” Sebastian exclaimed. According to him, the Summit is now a “fully mature” event with growing support from the entire region. “In fact, interest in this annual event is now global and it is heartening to note that it commands a very strong and growing presence worldwide,” he added.
One of the highlights of this year’s Summit will be the staging of the Asia Pacific Golf Industry Show. Georgina Wong, executive director of APGDC said, “The exhibition component of the Summit is growing and we have decided to spin it off as a separate event altogether.” According to Wong, APGIS 2010 will be a three-day show that will be open to all qualified trade visitors from the region. The show dates are October 18-20.
“We have booked close to 3,000 square metres of exhibition space at the prestigious Bangkok International Convention Centre and are confident that we will be able to stage a state-of-the-art exhibition for the industry,” Wong explained.
Marketing for APGIS 2010 is now in full flight and details on the show can be found at www.golfconference.org