ASIA: Changing of the Guard on Asia-Pacific Golf Confederation Board
Four golf industry stalwarts have bolstered the Asia-Pacific Golf Confederation’s (APGC) Board of Directors.
Bones Floro (Philippines), Major General Abdulla Al Hashmi (United Arab Emirates), Yoshihiro Nishi (Hong Kong) and Sarah Chia (Australia) have all commenced two-year terms in office.
Taimur Hassan Amin, Chairman of the APGC, said: “With the talent available to us amongst our member countries, selecting new Board members is always a challenge.
“I’m conscious of the balance and combination needed on the Board to represent the cultures and regions, the relationships with our partners from The R&A and Augusta National, plus the golfing background of the Board members.
“I am very pleased with the selection of the new Board members and am delighted they all accepted my invitation to join the APGC Board.
“We are fortunate to be able to call upon such experienced individuals, all of whom have been involved in golf for many years and are well respected in their home countries and around the region.
“These are exciting times for Asian golf in general and the APGC in particular and we very much look forward to progressing on various fronts with contributions from the new Board members.”
The new quartet join the existing Board that comprises Taimur Hassan Amin (Pakistan, Chairman), Philip Hassall (New Zealand, Vice Chairman and Treasurer), John Hopkins (Australia, Championship Committee Chairman), Ishwar Achanta (India); Nobuko ‘Nicki’ Hirayama (Japan), Zhang Xiaoning (China) and Kang Hyung-mo (Korea).
Standing down from the Board are Rae-Vadee T. Suwan (Thailand), Mohammed Al Naimi (Qatar) and Dato’ Rabeahtul Aloya Abbas (Malaysia).
“On behalf of all the APGC member countries, I’d like to place on record our gratitude to Rae-Vadee, Mohammed Al Naimi and Dato’ Rabe for all the work they’ve put in during their time on the APGC Board. We greatly appreciate their contribution and dedication to the promotion of the game in our region, especially during the difficult period of Covid. We wish them the best and look forward to their continued friendship and support.”
A scratch-handicapper, Floro is into his fifth year as Secretary-General of the National Golf Association of the Philippines. He is also Deputy Secretary-General of the National Olympic Committee of the Philippines.
Floro has been a prominent figure on the golfing scene in the Philippines for three decades. During that time he’s captained his country at the World Amateur Team Championships for the Eisenhower Trophy, and held senior management positions at Wack Wack Golf & Country Club, Alabang Country Club, Luisita Golf Club and Sta Elena Golf Club.
Additionally, he was Team Leader Golf for the Philippines at the Tokyo Olympics, Chef de Mission for the 2020 Winter Youth Olympic Games in Lausanne, Switzerland and Chef de Mission at last year’s Winter Olympic Games in Beijing.
Born and brought up in Japan, Nishi relocated to Hong Kong in 2010. During the course of his 12 years there, he has made a big impact on the golfing scene.
After a year as Vice President of the Hong Kong Golf Association (HKGA), he assumed the role of President in 2018-19. For the past two years he has acted as an Executive Committee Member at the HKGA. This year also marks his 10th year as an International Committee Member at the Japan Golf Association.
Passionate about poetry and golf and a writer at Al Ittihad Emirati newspaper, Al Hashmi is a retired Major General pilot from the UAE Air Force.
In 2008, he became the UAE Defence Attaché to Australia and New Zealand. Returning to the UAE in 2013, he was appointed as Assistant Under-Secretary at the Ministry of Defence.
Now retired, Al Hashmi currently serves as Vice Chairman of the Emirates Golf Federation as well as being a Board member of the UAE National Olympic Committee.
A Director at Kain Lawyers, one of Australia’s top mid-market transaction firms, working predominantly in private mergers and acquisitions, Chia has been a trail-blazer in golf in Australia.
It was in 2017 that she became the first woman to be elected to the Committee of the Royal Adelaide Golf Club, the same year that she joined the Board of Golf Australia. At that point she’d already spent two years as a Board member of Golf South Australia.
Now serving a second term on the Golf Australia Board, as well as sitting on the Risk and Audit Committee, Chia chairs the Australian Golf Women and Girls Engagement Steering Group.
“We wish them the best of luck and look forward to working together with them,” said Amin.
Photo Caption: The APGC’s four new Board members: Sarah Chia (top left), Yoshihiro Nishi (top right), Major General Abdulla Al Hashmi (bottom left) and Bones Floro (bottom right).
