Thailand’s Vanchai Luangnitikul held off his playing partners by a single stroke in the third round of the BNI Ciputra Golfpreneur Tournament today, his six under 66 enough to hold a slender lead going into the final round on 17 under par.

Fellow Thai Ekpharit Wu and Hong Kong’s Matthew Cheung each posted scores of 67 – Cheung with a bogey free card – and will be looking to keep the pressure on when the US$140,000 Asian Development Tour event concludes tomorrow.

With Cheung in solo second at -16, Ekpharit was joined in third place on -15 by Asian Development Tour rookie Liu Yung-hua of Chinese Taipei, whose faultless eight birdie round lifted him into contention at Damai Indah Golf’s BSD course, located in Tangerang on the outskirts of Indonesia’s capital Jakarta.

“It was quite similar to yesterday’s round,” said leader Vanchai when asked about his performance. “ I didn’t play well on the front nine, but made some birdies and an eagle coming in.”

Liu Yang-hua of Chinese Taipei pictured in action at the BNI Ciputra Golfpreneur Tournament. The US$140,000 Asian Development Tour event is being held from August 21-24 at the Damai Indah Golf BSD course in Tangerang, Indonesia. Picture courtesy of Damai Indah Golf.

His eagle on the par five 18th was his second of the tournament, and this time he managed to pull it off despite a conservative approach.

“I hit my five iron for my second shot,” he explained. “I just made sure it could clear the water. I had about 50 or 60 feet left for eagle, and I holed the putt!”

“There’s still a lot of golf to be played,” he continued. “I’m just going to stick to my plan, try to do same same every day.

“It would be nice to win on the ADT. The quality of the players is really strong so you have to play almost perfect golf to win here,” he added.

Four shots back sharing fifth place are the Indian duo of Khalin Joshi (66) and defending champion Yuvraj Singh Sandhu (65) who celebrated his return to the event with a scintillating display on the back nine.

“It was a bit of a slow start today,” said Singh after his round. “I was feeling a little anxious on the putting green but got the round started on the back nine. Definitely the golf course asks for more patience during the first nine holes,” he added.

“My putter got hot from the tenth hole onwards and it was one of the hottest back nines I have ever had on this golf course,” he said. “I’m liking that the putter is on again and the ball striking was on point. Patience just paid off today and I enjoyed it,” he added.

Matthew Cheung of Hong Kong pictured in action at the BNI Ciputra Golfpreneur Tournament. The US$140,000 Asian Development Tour event is being held from August 21-24 at the Damai Indah Golf BSD course in Tangerang, Indonesia. Picture courtesy of Damai Indah Golf.

In seventh place, on -10, Korea’s Minhyeok Yang (68) is joined by the Thai pair of Kammalas Namuangruk (69) and Chanat Sakulpolpaisan (70).

Ervin Chang (66) of Malaysia, winner of the inaugural Kyi Hla Han Future Champions award in 2023, shares 10th spot with Ben Jones (67) of England and the leading Indonesian player, amateur Jonathan Hartono (68).

Joel Stalter (71) of France, Varanyu Rattanphiboonkij (71) of Thailand and James Leow (72) of Singapore all fared poorly on Day Three and slid down the leaderboard, where they were joined in 13th spot by the ascending Thai Tirawat Kaewsribandit (65).

Matt Killen of England moved into a share of 17th place with his round of 68, sharing with Danny China (71) of Malaysia and Kosuke Hamamoto (73) of Thailand.

All players completed the third round without incident and the final round will be held as scheduled tomorrow, with the first players off the tee at 6.41am and the leaders hitting off at 8.20am.

Main picture: Vanchai Luangnitikul of Thailand pictured in action at the BNI Ciputra Golfpreneur Tournament. The US$140,000 Asian Development Tour event is being held from August 21-24 at the Damai Indah Golf BSD course in Tangerang, Indonesia. Picture courtesy of Damai Indah Golf.

Hong Kong’s Matthew Cheung posted a clean round of 67 at the BNI Ciputra Golfpreneur Tournament in Tangerang today, cementing his grip on the lead despite a challenge from Thailand’s Vanchai Luangnitikul whose round of 65 earned him a share of first place.

At 11 under par, they sit one shot ahead of joint overnight leader Ekpharit Wu (68) who is looking to extend his two game winning streak with a victory this week on the Damai Indah Golf BSD course, just outside the Indonesian capital Jakarta.

As the US$140,000 Asian Development Tour event heads into its third day, a group on eight under par will also be looking to overtake the leaders from fourth place, including the Thai duo of Chanat Sakulpolphaisan (69) and Kosuke Hamamoto (70), Singapore’s James Leow (69) and Australia’s Peter Wilson (67) .

“I played really good today,” said Cheung after his round. “I shot five under with three birdies and an eagle so kept the card clean, which is always good.”

Starting from the 10th tee, he played a steady opening nine but the eagle on the par five ninth hole pushed his performance up a gear, but it was not without its surprises.

“I was in the bunker of the left side,” he explained. “I hit a drive that almost went like 330 yards, so i was very surprised, and then had 66 metres to the flag. I had a good lie and hit a really good seven iron and it landed perfectly.

“At first i thought it went in because it went up the slope and then rolled back down so I couldn’t see it from there but I’d hit it to like four feet and made the putt,” he added.

The leading group tomorrow will comprise Cheung, Vanchai and Ekpharit, and Cheung was adamant that he would have some work to do to hold on to his lead.

“I know Ekpharit’s been playing really good golf,” he said. “He won the last two All Thailand events so I just need to play my game and hopefully come out on top.”

Vanchai Luangnitikul of Thailand pictured in action at the BNI Ciputra Golfpreneur Tournament. The US$140,000 Asian Development Tour event is being held from August 21-24 at the Damai Indah Golf BSD course in Tangerang, Indonesia. Picture courtesy of Damai Indah Golf.

Vanchai, who also eagled the ninth hole, had an excellent round, marred only by a single bogey on the 11th hole. The back nine also saw him score four birdies, and revealed that a mishit tee shot actually helped him bag the eagle.

“To be honest, it was quite lucky,” he said, “because I mishit my three wood on the tee shot but that gave me a perfect yardage for my rescue so I was able to hit it really close and then holed the putt.”

“The course is really firm, more so than last year,” he added. “Last year was a bit softer but this year the greens are a lot firmer and also faster so it’s really importabnt this week to keep it in the fairway.”

Australia’s Peter Wilson, who is looking to play more golf on the ADT this year, explained after his round how a four week break has brought new life into his game.

“I haven’t been working (on my game) at all,” he said after his round. “My son got into the Olympics for skateboarding so i went home, left my clubs in Thailand, and spent a month with him getting ready for the Olympics.

“I needed the break too, as I haven’t been playing very well at all. My mum passed away last year so I haven’t really played that well since then. I’ve been trying to play too much to not think about it, if that makes sense, but when I had the four week break from golf I just reflected on the good times and I’ve come back wanting to play again,” he explained.

Ekpharit Wu of Thailand pictured in action at the BNI Ciputra Golfpreneur Tournament. The US$140,000 Asian Development Tour event is being held from August 21-24 at the Damai Indah Golf BSD course in Tangerang, Indonesia. Picture courtesy of Damai Indah Golf.

“I’m just going to play the ADTs for this year, getting into a few and playing when I can. I play the Thai PGA as well, and some of the All Thailand Tour pre-qualifiers. I’ve based myself here in Thailand this year just to play the ADT.

“I found last year I tried to play the ADT but because I was going from Australian conditions to Asian conditions I found it too hard to adjust. But now, with playing predominantly here, I’m starting to be able to adjust to the grasses and the grain on the greens and I’m figuring it out a bit better.

“This is a great course,” he added. “The greens are fast, which is great. Normally the courses in Thailand I’ve been playing are eight or nine on the stimp, but now this is nearly up to 11 which is pretty much like Melbourne speed, which is nice. And there’s not a lot of grain on these ones, so it’s alright.”

In eighth spot, Thailand’s Kammalas Namuangruk (64) posted the low round of the day to make up for a poor showing yesterday. he heads a group on seven under which includes compatriot Varanyu Rattanaphiboonkij (67), Liu Yung-hua (68) of Chinese Taipei, leading Indonesian player Jonathan Wijono (69) and Joel Statler (69) of France.

In 13th place on six under, Minhyeok Yang (71) of Korea is tied with Malaysia’s Danny Chia (71). One shot back in 15th are the Indian pair of Khalin Joshi (71) and Rahil Gangjee (70), Huang Chi (68) of Chinese Taipei and Indonesian amateur Jonathan Hartono (69).

The field was able to complete their rounds and the cut was called at one under par, which means 57 players will tee it up for the third round in the morning. The first groups are off the tee at 6.41 am local time, with the leaders heading out at 8.20 am.

Main picture: Matthew Cheung of Hong Kong pictured in action at the BNI Ciputra Golfpreneur Tournament. The US$140,000 Asian Development Tour event is being held from August 21-24 at the Damai Indah Golf BSD course in Tangerang, Indonesia. Picture courtesy of Damai Indah Golf.

Thailand’s Ekpharit Wu and Matthew Cheung of Hong Kong made the most of their early rounds at the BNI Ciputra Golfpreneur Tournament in Indonesia today, posting six-under-par scores of 66 to take the early clubhouse lead.

They were later joined by Kosuke Hamamoto of Thailand who was one of the lunchtime starters in the first round of the US$140,000 Asian Development Tour event at Damai Indah Golf’s BSD course.

Ekpharit, coming into the tournament after back to back wins on the All Thailand Golf Tour, made a steady start from the 10th tee, posting two birdies before dropping a shot on the 16th hole.

He regained his composure swiftly on the par five 18th, threading a four iron 195 yards into the wind and between two greenside bunkers to post an eagle and get back on track.

With three additional birdies in his second nine, Ekpharit was clearly in form following his victories at the Singha All Thailand Memorial on August 11 and the Singha Pattaya Open last week.

“It was a very good day for me today to start with six under,” he said after his round, adding that the two wins had helped his confidence coming into this event.

“They helped me a lot,” he said, “one because it was my first All Thailand Tour win, and then with back to back wins which gave me a lot of confidence to play on the ADT,” he added.

“Today I putted very well, but for my tee shots i have a lot of work to do, tomorrow I will work on that,” he said.

Kosuke Hamamoto of Thailand pictured in action at the BNI Ciputra Golfpreneur Tournament. The US$140,000 Asian Development Tour event is being held from August 21-24 at the Damai Indah Golf BSD course in Tangerang, Indonesia. Picture courtesy of Damai Indah Golf.

Cheung was another of the morning starters who stood up to the test of the Tangerang course near Jakarta. A total of seven birdies, with just a single dropped shot on 17, saw him grab a share of the clubhouse lead after the morning session

“I thought I played really good today, especially the front nine,” he said after his round. “I gave myself a lot of opportunities and was able to make some putts.

“On the back nine the irons werent quite there but I missed in the right spots, which is what you have to do on this golf course. I made a lot of pars and a couple of birdies coming in,” he added.

“The course is really good, super fair,” he said. “The greens are quite firm this week so you really need to be careful with your iron shots, pick the right spots and miss them in the right spots or you can make bogeys really easy,” he added. “I thought i did that really well today so it was a good score.”

Kosuke, who finished second to Ekpharit in Pattaya last week, was equally ready to take on the BSD course.

“It felt really good to finish with an eagle for a really solid round,” he said after posting his score. “I’m just very happy with how I handled myself out there today.”

After three opening pars, he posted a string of birdies before a double bogey on the par three seventh hole threatened to derail his round.

Danny Chia of Malaysia pictured in action at the BNI Ciputra Golfpreneur Tournament. The US$140,000 Asian Development Tour event is being held from August 21-24 at the Damai Indah Golf BSD course in Tangerang, Indonesia. Picture courtesy of Damai Indah Golf.

Undeterred, he bounced straight back with a birdie on the eighth, and notched a couple more on the back nine before finishing with an eagle on 18 to match the 66 of the early leaders.

For his eagle on the last, his second shot may have missed the green but things turned out in his favour.

“For the second shot I had 181 in,” he explained, “but I just leaked out my iron to the right a bit. It was pin high but it was off the green.

“Luckily Rahil (Gangee) chipped before me. He was just two yards away and I saw his chip so it gave me a good idea of what the pace was. I thought I’d hit it a bit too hard but it hit the pin and went in,” he chuckled.

In fourth place, with 67 and five under par, Chanat Sakulpolphaisan of Thailand was joined by Singapore’s James Leow, Danny Chia of Malaysia and Korea’s Minhyeok Yang.

Thailand’s Paunuphol Pittayarat posted a bogey free round to head a group in eighth place on four under par, alongside compatriots Tanapat Pichaikool, Sarujn Sirithon and Vanchai Luangnitikul.

They were joined by India’s Khalin Joshi and defending champion Yuvraj Singh Sandhu, leading Indonesian player Jonathan Wijono, Deyen Lawson of Australia, Malaysia’s Ervin Chang, Ben Jones of England and Joel Stalter of France.

All 150 players were able to finish the first round of the 72 hole tournament which concludes on Saturday, August 24. Round Two will start at 6.20am on Tursday for the morning session, with the afternoon flights teeing it up from 11am.

The Asian Development Tour (ADT) will make its first stop of the season in Indonesia this year at the BNI Ciputra Golfpreneur Tournament, after organisers confirmed today that the event will be played at Damai Indah Golf, BSD Course, from August 21-24.

The ninth edition of the event, which proudly boasts PGA Tour star Tom Kim as a former winner, will be the sixth leg of the season and offer a purse of US$140,000 – one of the Tour’s most lucrative, and a 12% increase from last year.

Said Ken Kudo, General Manager, ADT: “The BNI Ciputra Golfpreneur Tournament, first held in 2014, is one of the ADT’s anchor events and we are therefore delighted to announce its return this year.

“We thank BNI, the Ciputra Group and Damai Indah Golf, BSD Course, for facilitating the event’s return with a significant increase in prizemoney, and we look forward to another successful staging of the event.”

From a starting field of 144, 91 players from the ADT are exempt for the tournament, along with 40 from the Professional Golf Tour of Indonesia. There will be 13 invites from the promoter.

Last year, India’s Yuvraj Singh Sandhu took advantage of a hot putter to win by four shots. Playing in the penultimate group he posted a brilliant bogey-free final round 65, as his rivals fell by the wayside at Damai Indah Golf, BSD Course – which has hosted every edition of the tournament.

Remarkably, the tournament has been won by a player of a different nationality every year.

Kim beat Singapore’s Mardan Mamat to triumph in 2019, after overcoming a five- shot deficit on the last day. He was just 17 years old at the time, and it was just the second victory of his professional career, having won on the ADT two months earlier.

The other winners are Thailand’s Suteepat Prateeptienchai (2022), Miguel Carballo from Argentina (2018), Japan’s Masaru Takahashi (2017), Swede Oscar Zetterwall (2016), Michael Tran of Vietnam (2015) and Scotland’s James Byrne (2014).

Pakistan’s Ahmad Baig has taken the ADT by storm this year: he currently leads the ADT Order of Merit, thanks to two victories, and will be one of the favourites at the BNI Ciputra Golfpreneur Tournament.

ENDS