1962 Far East Circuit

The 1962 Far East Circuit was the inaugural season of golf tournaments that comprised the Far East Circuit, later known as the Asia Golf Circuit.[1]

The circuit consisted of five tournaments over five weeks, and was formed from the existing national open championships of the Philippines, Hong Kong and Singapore, along with the inaugural national open championship of Malaysia and the Yomiuri Shimbun sponsored Yomiuri International in Japan. There was a total prize fund of just over M$200,000, which included a bonus pool sponsored by Seagram of M$15,000 for the overall circuit prize.[2][3]

Golfers from around the world participated in the tour,[4] including some of the biggest names in Australian golf,[5] and it was one of them, multiple Open Championship winner, Peter Thomson, who emerged as the circuit's first champion.[6]

Schedule

The table below shows the 1962 Far East Circuit schedule.[2]

DateTournamentCountryPrize
fund (M$)		WinnerNotesRefs
8–11 FebPhilippine OpenPhilippines44,400 Celestino Tugot[7]
15–18 FebSingapore OpenSingapore28,000 Brian Wilkes[8]
22–25 FebMalayan OpenMalaysia21,000 Frank PhillipsNew tournament[9]
1–4 MarHong Kong OpenHong Kong30,300 Len Woodward[10]
8–11 MarYomiuri InternationalJapan67,500 Peter ThomsonNew tournament[11]

Final standings

For its inaugural season only, the Far East Circuit standings were based on the aggregate strokes taken in all five events. There was a circuit prize of M$15,000 sponsored by Seagram, that was divided amongst the four leading players.[2][6]

#PlayerTotal
strokes
1 Peter Thomson1,405
2 Kel Nagle1,422
3 Frank Phillips1,422
4 Bob Charles1,430

References
  1. Steel, Donald (1987). Golf Records, Facts and Champions. Guinness. pp. 153–155. ISBN 0851128475.
  2. "Golf's gathering of champions". The Straits Times. Singapore. 11 February 1962. p. 18. Retrieved 3 March 2020 – via National Library Board.
  3. "Big entry for Philippines Open golf next month". Singapore Free Press. Singapore. 9 January 1962. p. 11. Retrieved 3 March 2020 – via National Library Board.
  4. "Big Prizes For Far East Golf". The Canberra Times. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 5 January 1962. p. 20. Retrieved 4 March 2020 – via Trove.
  5. "Record for Far Eastern golf tour". The Canberra Times. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 30 January 1962. p. 14. Retrieved 4 March 2020 – via Trove.
  6. "Far East loot to Aussies". The Province. Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. 12 March 1962. p. 17. Retrieved 3 March 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. "Filipino wins | Nagle down by a stroke". The Sydney Morning Herald. Australian Associated Press. 12 February 1962. Retrieved 3 March 2020 – via Google News Archive.
  8. "Wilkes grabs $5,000 first prize". The Straits Times. Singapore. 19 February 1962. p. 17. Retrieved 28 January 2020 – via National Library Board.
  9. "Phillips wins in Malaya". The Canberra Times. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 26 February 1962. p. 16. Retrieved 28 January 2020 – via Trove.
  10. "Woodward first in Aussie sweep in HK Open". The Straits Times. Singapore. 5 March 1962. p. 18. Retrieved 28 January 2020 – via National Library Board.
  11. "Thomson's double". The Glasgow Herald. 12 March 1962. p. 4. Retrieved 3 March 2020 – via Google News Archive.
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