Cebu, Philippines: The third edition of the US$65,000 Aboitiz Invitational will make its return to the Asian Development Tour (ADT) schedule with a host of tournament winners eager to make their entry into the winner’s circle again next week.
Japan’s Mitsuhiko Hashizume, who holds the honour of being the first Japanese to win a ADT title, will be targeting his second victory while England’s Peter Richardson is also seeking to land his second ADT title following last year’s breakthrough on the ADT, which is the feeder circuit to the premier Asian Tour.
Scotland’s James Byrne and American James Bowen, both victorious in the opening two events at the start of the season will be challenging for honours again alongside an international field that includes Singapore’s Quincy Quek as well as Lin Wen-hong and Chiang Chen-chih of Chinese Taipei at the Cebu Country Club from July 24 to July 27.
Byrne, who is currently in sixth place on the ADT Order of Merit, will be hoping to reproduce his early season form where he earned his playing rights on the Asian Tour following a successful Qualifying School campaign.
The 2011 Walker Cup star subsequently carried over his fine form over and won his first ADT title at the season-opening ADT event in Malaysia in February.
Bowen also claimed his maiden breakthrough on the ADT with his win in Kedah, Malaysia in February.
Victory was especially sweet for the American as he had earlier suffered the agony of missing the cut at the Asian Tour Qualifying School Final Stage in January.
Bowen is currently in second place on the ADT Order of Merit and another good result in the Philippines could see him finish inside the top-three on the rankings and earn his full playing rights on the Asian Tour in 2014.
The ADT entered a new and exciting era this season with all events receiving Official World Golf Ranking points, which will be used to determine the field for the World Cup of Golf in Melbourne in November and the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.
Launched in 2010 with five tournaments, the ADT Schedule grew to eight in 2011 and 13 last year. It has proven to be a successful circuit for upcoming players to gain entry into the Asian Tour, which is celebrating its milestone 10th season in 2013.
Created along the lines of the European Challenge Tour and Web.com Tour in the United States, the ADT will reward the top-three players on the final Order of Merit with Asian Tour cards for the following year.
