Hai Phong, Vietnam: Nguyen Anh Minh produced an inspired performance to lead Vietnam to an historic triumph in the 30th edition of the Asia-Pacific Amateur Team Championship.

Staving off the challenges of traditional Asia-Pacific golfing heavyweights Japan, Korea, Australia and New Zealand, the Vietnamese trio of Anh Minh, Le Khanh Hung and Ho Anh Huy wrote their names into the record books with an astounding victory.

“What a stunning result! Congratulations to the players and officials from the Vietnam Golf Association (VGA),” said Taimur Hassan Amin, Chairman of the Asia-Pacific Golf Confederation (APGC).

Thanks to closing rounds of 67 from Anh Minh and 69 from Anh Huy, Vietnam posted a final-day team score of eight-under 136 in the event in which the best two daily scores in each three-man team are counted. Khanh Hung, whose 69 on day three proved crucial, signed off with a five-over 77 that was not needed.

With a four-day team aggregate of 20-under 556, Vietnam finished three strokes clear of Japan, the defending champions and 10-time winners of the Nomura Cup.

For Vietnam it was their first taste of victory in the longest-running event in the APGC portfolio in what was only their second appearance in the championship.

At Santiburi Country Club in Chiang Rai, Thailand in 2013, Vietnam finished 17th out of 25 teams.

Vu Nguyen, a member of that Vietnam team 11 years ago and now Secretary-General of the VGA, said: “This is a proud moment for Vietnam golf. It is a fantastic achievement by our three players and will hopefully help us in our aims to further develop golf in the country.”

The icing on the cake for Vietnam was that Anh Minh also had the distinction of finishing as the low individual.

Over the course of the four days at Vinpearl Hai Phong, Anh Minh lived up to his billing as the highest rated player in the 57-strong field at 84th in the World Amateur Golf Ranking.

With rounds of 71, 67, 71 and a closing 67, Anh Minh finished with a 12-under total of 276. He made only three bogeys all week, two on the opening day and one in round three.

In the individual standings, he ended two shots clear of second-placed Australian Declan O’Donovan, who closed with a six-under 66, the best round of the week. New Zealand’s Robby Turnbull was third on eight-under 280 followed by Japan's Taishi Moto (281) and Malaysian Anson Yeo (282).

While it was Anh Minh who took centre stage, there was special praise for Anh Huy, at 14 the youngest player in the field.

With Khanh Hung struggling, it became apparent that the England-based youngster’s contribution would be pivotal. When he dropped his second shot of the day at the ninth to turn in even-par, Vietnam were neck-and-neck with Japan at the top of the leaderboard.

On the back nine, Anh Huy rose magnificently to the challenge, holing numerous knee-trembling par putts to keep Vietnam ahead. Fist pumps also followed birdies at 12, 14 and 18 as he lent the perfect supporting role to Anh Minh, ensuring Vietnam’s success.

The combined age of the Vietnam team was just 47. At 17, Anh Minh is the veritable veteran followed by 16-year-old Khanh Hung and 14-year-old Anh Huy.

“The team did well and I feel like I played really well in the third round, so I’m happy,” said Khanh Hung, last year’s Southeast Asian (SEA) Games gold medallist.

Team Scores

556 – Vietnam 143-137-140-136
559 – Japan 143-135-143-138
565 – New Zealand 143-137-145-140
566 – Australia 144-143-144-135; Korea 147-140-140-139
570 – Thailand 147-145-138-140
574 – Hong Kong China 144-145-143-142
576 – India 145-146-147-138
579 – China 142-148-142-147
582 – Malaysia 149-145-145-143
583 – Singapore 149-148-144-142
585 – United Arab Emirates 148-149-145-143
589 – Chinese Taipei 144-150-148-147
597 – Philippines 152-150-152-143
632 – Pakistan 158-156-162-156
640 – Myanmar 167-160-156-157
660 – Saudi Arabia 166-160-164-170
682 – Mongolia 172-177-175-158
696 – Guam 173-177-178-168

Leading Individual Scores

276 – Nguyen Anh Minh (Vietnam) 71-67-71-67
278 – Declan O’Donovan (Australia) 69-71-72-66
280 – Robby Turnbull (New Zealand) 73-67-70-70
281 – Taishi Moto (Japan) 72-70-71-68
282 – Anson Yeo (Malaysia) 71-70-72-69
283 – Wang Ngai Shen (Hong Kong China) 72-71-71-69; Masayuki Yamashita (Japan) 71-67-75-70
284 – Park Jung-hung (Korea) 76-69-71-68
285 – Takumi Kobayashi (Japan) 73-68-72-72
286 – Kartik Singh (India) 71-72-71-72
287 – An Seong-hyeon (Korea) 74-71-71-71
288 – Billy Dowling (Australia) 75-72-72-69