KUALA LUMPUR, 31 October 2022: Malaysia plays host to the World Amateur Golfers Championship (WAGC) Final from 12-19 November 2022.
The WAGC tournament is steeped in history, having been recognised globally as the foremost amateur golfing event in the world with the participation of 45 countries.
The world’s largest amateur golf championship has been led by golfing luminaries such as Arnold Palmer, Annika Sörenstam and Seve Ballesteros, to name a few.
The eagerly contested championship was founded in 1995 by Sven Tumba, one of the most prominent sports icons, having represented Sweden in ice hockey, football, and golf.
Seven-time Major winner Palmer was a keen supporter of the championship, having served as the tournament patron for over a decade.
Sörenstam, who is regarded as one of the best female golfers of all time, took over as chairman of the Advisory Board after the passing of the Spanish great Ballesteros.
By offering an opportunity to amateur golfers to represent their countries, the WAGC has been successfully staged for a quarter of a century. Its first final was staged in Florida.
Since its inception, WAGC has been held in the United States, Europe and South Africa. Befitting its stature, the world finals were held at high-end resorts and played at some of the best courses in the world.
Malaysia played host to the tournament in 2017 in Kuala Lumpur, in 2018 in Johor Bahru, and in 2019 in Sabah. When the World Final is held in Kuala Lumpur from 12 to 19 November, Malaysia will welcome 500 top amateur golfers to compete for the title.
Delta World is the event promoter and management company for WAGC. It undertakes the overall operations of the WAGC World Final.
“We started in 2012 as Perodua World Amateur Golf Championship,” said WAGC President, Isac Saminathan. “Golfers referred to this as the Perodua Event. With this popularity of referring to this tournament as a Perodua event, we initiated this as a Golf Series.
“We saw this as a golden opportunity for all golfers to up their game and bring it to a different level. With this in mind, we created Perodua National Amateur Golf Series, PNAGS, as it is now fondly called.
“It is a platform for all golfers. No matter what handicap they play, they have the chance to compete with their fellow golfers with equal skill levels to represent their states.”
As the marketing arm for the country in promoting tourism, Tourism Malaysia is optimistic that this prestigious event will contribute to garnering more inbound tourists. Malaysia currently targets to welcome 9.2 million international tourist arrivals with RM 26.8 billion in tourism receipts for this year.
“We would like to take this opportunity to express our gratitude to WAGC for entrusting Malaysia again to host the world final, as we will be welcoming international amateur golfers for their final battle in Malaysia,” said Tourism Malaysia’s Senior Director of International Promotion (Asia/ Africa) Division, Manoharan Periasamy.
After an absence of two years due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the stage is set for a much-anticipated WAGC Final to be played over top golf courses in the Klang Valley, namely the Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club, Glenmarie Golf and Country Club, Kota Permai Golf and Country Club, and Kelab Rahman Putra Malaysia.
The golfers will stay at the One World Hotel in Petaling Jaya, and they will get to visit several tourist sites as part of the itinerary.
Among the celebrities who will attend the World Final here are Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden and former Liverpool goalkeeper Jerzy Dudek. The Polish footballer also played for Real Madrid.
