Niall Turner of Muskerry Golf Club and University of Minnesota signed for rounds of 74, 71, 69 and 70 at the weekend to secure 15th place at the Asian Tour Qualifying School First Stage at the Majestic Creek Golf Resort In Thailand to be amongst the 64 players at the final stage this week.
Bangladesh’s Shakhawat, Australia’s Matt Docking, Berry Henson of the United States and Japan's Kenichi Sawada took a giant step towards securing their playing rights on the Asian Tour this season after finishing atop the leader board over three different venues.
Shakhawat posted an even-par 72 to take top honours with Docking who returned with a 68 for a four-day total of 12-under-par 276 at the Majestic Creek Golf Resort while Henson added a final 70 to his previous scores of 73, 69 and 70 to emerge as the top finisher at the Imperial Lakeview Golf Club.
Japan’s Tomoya Tokunaga carded a 69 to take a share of third place alongside Finland’s Kalle Samooja on matching 278s at the Majestic Creek Golf Resort while at the Imperial Lakeview, Japan’s Masanori Kobayashi and Jonathan Moore of the United States posted matching 283s to take equal second, one shot behind leader Henson.
Joshua Kelly of the United States returned with a final 283 total for second place while Australia's Tim Stewart took third place on 286 at the Springfield Royal Country Club.
Players who compete in the Qualifying School will also be eligible for memberships on the Asian Development Tour, the region’s secondary circuit, where a minimum of five tournaments will be staged in the new season.
Niall Turner will tee of on Wednesday Joonas Granberg of Sweden and Dion Sirianni from Canada.
