The Asian Development Tour (ADT) will welcome two events from the VGA (Vietnam Golf Association) Tour onto its schedule this year – the Lexus Challenge and the Nam A Bank Vietnam Masters – signifying the expanding relationship with the Asian Tour and the Southeast Asian nation.

The Lexus Challenge, which is now in its fourth year, will be held at The Bluffs Grand Ho Tram from March 13-15 while the Nam A Bank Vietnam Masters will be staged from May 29–June 1. A venue for the latter event will be announced in due course.

Both events will be jointly sanctioned by the ADT and the Vietnam Golf Association and be part of what is expected to be one of the strongest schedules in the history of the ADT.

Two tournaments in Thailand, the ADT–All Thailand Partnership Trophy and the Singha Laguna Phuket Open, were recently confirmed – with more schedule announcements to follow soon.

Chen Guxin of China won on the ADT in Vietnam in 2022. Picture by Paul Lakatos/Asian Tour.

Said Ken Kudo, Associate Director, Partnerships, Asian Tour, said: “This is tremendous expansion for the Asian Development Tour, one that allows us to perfectly synchronise the Tour’s mission to aid the development of up-and-coming golfers while also visiting and promoting new, emerging golf markets.

“We thank Lexus, Nam A Bank, the Vietnam Golf Association and The Bluffs Grand Ho Tram for making this possible and we are now full-steam ahead with preparing for these two events – which will each feature fields of 138 players, with 70 from the ADT.”

The total prizemoney for both events will be US$85,000.

At the most recent ADT events in Vietnam, China’s Chen Guxin triumphed at the 2022 BRG Open Golf Championship, while Australian Aaron Wilkin won the event last year.

The 2023 ADT season came to a memorable conclusion last December when Thailand’s Denwit Booribonsub won the Aramco Invitational.

That allowed him to top the ADT Order of Merit and secure his Asian Tour card for 2024, something that the top-10 players on Merit list are all rewarded with.

Remarkably, just two weeks later Denwit went on the claim the Saudi Open presented by Public Investment Fund – the final event of the Asian Tour’s season. It is the first time that a player achieved that double and was another example of the terrific pathway offered by the ADT – the Asian Tour’s burgeoning feeder circuit. Last year it featured 12 events offering overall prizemoney of US$1.38million.

The new year is expected to see a significant increase in the number of events and total prizemoney.