DPRK Amateur Golf Open
| Tournament information | |
|---|---|
| Location | North Korea |
| Established | 2011 |
| Course(s) | Pyongyang Golf Complex |
| Par | 72 |
| Month played | July |
| Current champion | |
| Claudio Consul (Germany) | |
The DPRK Golf Open is an annual amateur event which takes place outside Pyongyang. It was launched in 2011 at North Korea's only open golf course.
The Open is a 36-hole tournament, with format varying each year.
History
North Korea currently has two golf courses, one of them the currently out-of-use course at Mount Kumgang and the other, the Pyongyang Golf Club situated 27 km from Pyongyang city.
The Pyongyang Golf Complex was designed and built in 1987 by a Japanese company. The course is mainly played by diplomatic staff.
In 2004, Koryo Tours hosted the Pyongyang Friendship Golf Tournament. It was a 9-hole event played by 8 competitors.[1]
In January 2011, North Korea announced that they would host the first-ever fully fledged 18-hole international affair. In conjunction with UK travel agency Lupine Travel the DPRK Golf Open was launched.[2]
The first event took place over just one day in April 2011. The tournament was played in Callaway format.[3]
In 2012 the tournament took place over 3 days, with both Callaway and Stableford formats used.[4]
The 2013 event took place from May 25 to 27 over 3 days in stroke play format.[5][6]
The 2014 event took place from July 27 to 28 over 2 days in stroke play format.[7]
The 2015 event took place on 6 and 7 September 2015 in stroke play format. Eleven different nations took part and the tournament was win by Claudio Consul who broke the course record.[8]
The 2016 tournament took place between the 8th and 9th October 2016. Eighteen different nations took part. The overall winner a was Poland's Lukasz Tomiewicz.[9]
Winners
2016 DPRK Amateur Open Championship || Lukasz Tomiewicz || 
Poland ||
2015 DPRK Amateur Open Championship || Claudio Consul || 
Germany || hcp +2
2014 DPRK Amateur Open Championship || Nobuaki Kasahara || 
Japan || hcp 14
2013 DPRK Amateur Open Championship || Peter Clark || 
New Zealand || hcp 22
2012 DPRK Amateur Open Championship || Simon Jones || 
England || hcp 22
2011 DPRK Amateur Open Championship || Olli Lehtonen || 
Finland || hcp 1.1
Records
The lowest gross score shot during the tournament is 70 by Claudio Consul in 2015. It has been claimed by a Pyongyang Golf Club professional that Kim Jong Il shot a course record of 34 sometime in the early 1990s, including 5 holes in one. This was stated to Eric Ellis, a reporter for the Australian Financial Review who visited the club in 1994,[10] and has yet to be confirmed by a credible source.[11]
Notes and references
- ↑ "2004 event". Golf Digest.
- ↑ "2011 tournament launch". Daily Mail. London. January 13, 2011.
- ↑ Shears, Richard (May 31, 2011). "2011 tournament report". Daily Mail. London.
- ↑ "2012 tournament report". Time Magazine. June 6, 2012.
- ↑ "2013 tournament winner". New Zealand Herald. June 1, 2013.
- ↑ "North Korean Golf Open 2013". Jackson Fu. May 29, 2013.
- ↑ "2014 tournament winner". North Korean Open official website. August 5, 2014.
- ↑ "2015 tournament winner". North Korean Open official website. December 3, 2014.
- ↑ http://www.northkoreanopen.com/pastevents.html
- ↑ Ellis, Eric (22 October 2012). "Dear Leader and The Golf War". ericellis.com. Eric Ellis. Retrieved July 1, 2016.
- ↑ Longman, Jeré (December 20, 2011). "Kim Jong Il golf record". NY Times.