VGA Union Cup 2021 kicked off next week

From being an annual tournament, the VGA Union Cup changed to a biennial format. Along with changes from the Vietnam Golf Association (VGA) and VGS Group, the 2021 tournament at West Lakes Golf & Villas promises to be the most attractive event of the VGA Union Cup ever.

The South and North teams will still experience eight foursome matches, eight fourball matches and 12 singles matches just like the Ryder Cup format. Each win is counted one point, 0.5 point draw. After three days of competition, the team that touches the 14.5 point will be the winner. If the two teams have the same score (14-14), the defending champion – the South – will continue to hold the cup. After four tournaments held, the head-to-head result between the two teams is now 2-2.

The Northern team in the last four tournaments, golfer Le Hung Nam, will no longer play the leading role of the team, due to taking on the role of VGA’s Vice President and General Secretary. The new captain of the North is golfer Dinh Hong Phong, who served twice as vice captain in 2016 and 2017 – the years that the North team was champions. On the Southern side, golfer Tran Thanh Tu was the captain for the second time in a row. The number of members per team this year has been increased from 18 to 21. The two captains have the discretion to decide on the selection of the 20 main members of the team through the organization of the qualifiers.

“In addition to the success of the tournament, VGA Union Cup organizers also want to contribute to the development of the golf movement across the country”, said golfer Le Hung Nam, General Secretary of VGA, Head of BTC. “Hopefully the VGA Union Cup becomes more professional and can spread among the community”.

The Union Cup is considered as the opening tournament in a series of six amateur tournaments in the framework of VGA Tour in 2021. Along with five major professional tournaments, this promises to be an exciting and breakthrough year for golf in Vietnam.

Vy Anh