On August 19, more than 100 golfers gathered at Lost Marsh Golf Course in Hammond, Ind., to compete in the 2006 Asian American Challenge Cup. The event, sponsored by AAGolf Magazine and the Horseshoe Casino, featured seven different teams representing the following countries: China, India, Japan, Korea, Thailand, the Philippines and the United States.

“Team captains Frank Ting (China), Ram Thukkaram (India), Toshihiko Kii (Japan), Doug Kim (Korea), Pete Nobhaprana (Thailand), Ernie Catral (the Philippines) and Andrew Engler (United States) did a wonderful job organizing their teams to help make this a memorable tournament,” says Sunny Leon, publisher of AAGolf Magazine. “I enjoyed seeing so many diverse golfers united at one event. The Chinese team graciously hosted the tournament, and we were fortunate to have several special guests. Board members of the Asian American Professionals Golf Association (AAPGA), Tuan Schneider, Noke Sivilay, Sith Phousirith and Ricky Wong, drove seven hours from Minneapolis to participate in the Asian American Challenge Cup.”

For the second year in a row, the Korean team captured the cup title as the overall team winner. Of the eight individual scores posted by the Korean team, seven were in the 70’s. Their combined score of 621 bested the Thai team’s second-place score of 632. In its first year of participation, the U.S. team clinched third place by one stroke over the Chinese team with a score of 687. Organizers calculated each team’s score by combining the scores of their lowest eight players. 

“I was very proud that the American team was able to put up such a solid showing in our first appearance at this event,” notes Andrew Engler of the U.S. team. “I guarantee that the players on our team had the most fun out here at Lost Marsh today. Everything seemed to go off without a hitch. The course was in excellent condition, the weather was perfect and the camaraderie strong. We even got a bonus with the U.S. Navy Blue Angels giving us a flyby during our round.” 
In the individual competition, the three lowest gross scores were carded by Tony Jantakancte (Thailand) 72, Harry Cho (Korea) 73, and Wanyoo Kim (Korea) 74.  

“I was proud to see our team’s No. 1 player score the lowest in this extremely competitive event,” boasts Pat Sangern, president of the Thai Golf Club of Chicago.

Closest to the Pin winners were Dang Srisu (Thailand), San Santharam (India), Ho Min Lim (China) and M Anantawanit (Thailand). The U.S. team swept the Longest Drive competition, with Andrew Engler winning the men’s division with a drive of 305 yards and Debbie Eng capturing the women’s title with a drive of over 200 yards. Murphy Liang (China) won the Longest Putt. All of the winners received prizes during an evening reception at the Horseshoe Casino.  

The annual Asian American Challenge Cup rotates hosts each year, with the Korean team pinned to host next year’s tournament.