KATHMANDU: Nepal finished 16th at the Nomura Cup 24th Asia-Pacific Amateur Golf Team Championship at the Namseoul Country Club in South Korea today.

The Nepali team of Rupak Acharya, Wangchen Dhondup, Tashi Tshering and Tashi Ghale carded a disastrous 33-over 249 in the final round for a total of 120-over 984. In the process, Nepal defeated the UAE (985), Fiji (990), Iran (1,007), Guam (1,009) and Mongolia (1.068) in the 21-team tournament.

Hosts South Korea finished first with a total of 18-under 846, while Chinese Taipei came second at four-over 868 and Japan stood third at 14-over 878. The hosts scored nine-under 207 in the final round, whereas Taipei returned a card of level par 216 and Japan carded one-under 215 in the final round.

In individual section, Acharya was the best among the Nepali golfers. The Nepal No 1 amateur golfer carded nine-over 81 in the final round for a total of 28-over 316 to finish joint 49th in the tournament. Likewise, Dhondup came tied 62nd with a total of 42 over 330, while Tshering (59-over 347) and Ghale (62-over 350) finished 73rd and 75th respectively.

Meanwhile, Acharya

and Ghale left for Japan

to participate in the 2009 Asia Pacific Panasonic Open to be held at the Joyo Country Club in Kyoto from September 24-27.

Top Nepali professional golfer Shiva Ram Shrestha — who had been undergoing training in the US — will join the duo directly in Japan. The APGC has invited top-ranked pro and amateur golfers from the APGC member associations, top 10 players each from the Asian Tour and Japan Tour, the winners of the last three Japan PGA events and last five Japan Open Championships for the event.

This is the first time the Nepali golfers are taking part in such prestigious tournament. Out of the

total prize money of 150 million Japanese Yen ($1.58 million), the winner will

receive 30 million Yen.

The player finishing 60th will earn 55,500 Yen.