Vilips and Crowe lead Australians at Asia Pacific Amateur
Karl Vilips in action today – photo AAC
China’s Bo Jin holds the halfway lead in the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship for the second successive year after staying ahead of a charging Ratchanon ‘TK’ Chantananuwat at the Amata Spring Country Club in Chonburi, Thailand, on Friday.
The 20-year-old Oklahoma State University junior finished with a bogey on the par-4 ninth hole, but he did enough good work in a three-under-par 69 round to keep his nose ahead of local star and the highest-ranked player in the field, world No. 12 Chantananuwat, and Korea’s Wooyoung Cho.
The Australians are led by US based Karl Vilips and New South Wales Harrison Crowe who are tied for 4th and just 2 behind the leader, Jin.
Jin, brother of the 2015 AAC champion in Hong Kong Cheng Jin, is ranked 34th on the WAGR. Last year in Dubai, he was leading after rounds of 70 and 64 and had a strong feeling of déjà vu.
“I am in a great position and am obviously reminded of Dubai. I have played some great golf so far and I hope to do the same over the weekend and finish the job,” said Jin.
“I don’t think I played badly during the weekend in Dubai, but Keita (Nakajima) played much better and won. I just need to do my part properly and we will see how it goes after that.”
