The Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific Championship trophy is seen on the 10th tee prior to The Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific Championship at Siam Country Club on January 29, 2024 in Chon Buri, Thailand. (Photo by Yong Teck Lim/R&A/R&A via Getty Images)
The 2024 Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific championship will be played on the Waterside Course at Siam Country Club in Thailand.
Founded in 2018, this year will see the sixth playing of the championship which was developed by The R&A and the Asia-Pacific Golf Confederation (APGC). Their aim was to inspire future generations of women golfers and provide the champion with an unparalleled launch-pad early in their career through exemptions into multiple women’s major championships and other elite amateur championships.
A 72-hole stroke play championship, the WAAP field will consist of 90 players from 22 countries. 36 holes of stroke play over the first two days decides the top-50 players and ties who make it through to the final two rounds.
After 72-holes if an outright champion does not emerge a sudden-death play-off over the 18th hole will be used to determine the winner.
The winner is presented with the Rae-Vadee T. Suwan Champion’s Medal which was named after Thailand’s Rae-Vadee T. Suwan, a pioneer of women’s golf in the region for over 40 years. In 1978, she launched the first Thailand Ladies Amateur Open and Inter-Club Team Championships and a year later co-founded the Thailand Ladies Golf Association.
The legacy of Rae-Vadee T Suwan
Arguably Rae-Vadee’s biggest legacy is her role in the Queen Sikrit Cup, launching the first edition of the Asia-Pacific Amateur Ladies Golf Team Championship in 1979 and working as Secretary-General or in other capacities in 39 editions of the event. She has also worked on 26 editions of both the Thailand Ladies Amateur Open and Thailand Ladies Open professional tournament.
In 1987, she was a co-founder of the Kosaido Ladies Asia Golf Circuit, serving as the Circuit Co-ordinator for 17 years until the Tour ended in 2003. In 2005, she helped relaunch the regional circuit as the Ladies Asian Golf Tour, serving as its President for five years (2005-2009) and its Chairman for four years (2009-2013). She has also served as a Director of the APGC.
The Siam Country Club Golf Course
Siam Country Club, the first privately owned golf club in Thailand, was founded in 1971 by Dr Thaworn Phornprapha, head of the Siam Motor Company. Opened in 2014, the Waterside Course is part of what is now a five course, 99-hole complex, and was designed by IMG Golf Course Design around the unique waterways and gentle topography of the area.
Placing an emphasis on environmental care and aesthetic beauty, with the aim of providing challenging yet friendly play, the Waterside Course can play up to 7,400 yards to a par of 72 yet has a separate identity to its sister courses – Old Course, Plantation, Rolling Hills and Bangkok.
In 2022, the Waterside Course hosted the Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific for the first time with TingHsuan Huang of Chinese Taipei claiming the title from home favourite Natthakritta Vongtaveelap. Starting the final round tied for the lead with two others, Huang trailed Vongtaveelap by four shots after seven holes before birdieing six of the last eleven holes to triumph by two strokes.
Highlights of the Waterside include the clubhouse with beautiful 180-degree views of the course, creeks, ponds and lakes up and down the valley, which give the course its name. Siam Country Club is committed to delivering a level of excellence to maintain its standing among the best golf venues in Thailand, having won best golf course renovation in Asia for work to the Old Course in 2020, which was declared best course in Thailand in 2010. At the Global Golf Awards in 2020, the Waterside Course followed its older neighbour in also winning Best Course in Thailand.
The Siam Country Club is no stranger to hosting world class events. The club has hosted the Honda LPGA Thailand for the past 17 years as well as the Asian Tour’s Trust Golf Asian Mixed Series 2022. Like a masterpiece on a giant canvas, Siam Country Club in Pattaya is well-known to golfers in Asia as a great place to spend your time on the best golf courses in Thailand.
OTHER EVENTS AT THIS VENUE
Honda LPGA Thailand The Honda LPGA Thailand is a world-class women’s golf tournament, sanctioned by the LPGA. First played in 2006 at the Amata Spring Country Club, the tournament moved to the Siam Country Club in 2007, and is played on the Old Course. Simultaneously showcasing the rich culture of Thailand and the pinnacle of women’s golf, the Honda LPGA Thailand will be back at Siam Country Club from 22-25 February 2024. As Thailand’s only LPGA sanctioned event with a rich 17-year legacy, the tournament showcases more than 70 of the world’s best golfers and rising Thai stars competing for a purse of US$1.7 million. In 2023 the Honda LPGA was won by Lilia Vu for her first LPGA title with Thailand’s two-time WAAP runner-up Natthakritta Vongtaveelap finishing second again at the Siam Country Club.
Trust Golf Asian Mixed Series 2022 The Trust Golf Asian Mixed Series is a golf competition held jointly by the Asian Tour and Ladies European Tour (LET). The inaugural two events in 2022 were held back-to-back on the Waterside Course at Siam Country Club. Both events (Mixed Cup and Mixed Stableford Challenge) featured 60 LET and 60 Asian Tour players, along with 24 sponsor invitations, playing for the same prize fund and trophy. The 2022 Mixed Cup winner was Thai amateur Ratchanon ‘TK’ Chantananuwat, in the process becoming the youngest male winner on a major tour, at 15 years and 37 days. American Sihwan Kim rounded off an excellent week on the Waterside Course with a two-point victory in the Trust Golf Asian Mixed Stableford Challenge, ahead of Sweden’s Maja Stark who was the best-placed female.
