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Asian Tour referee for Bridgestone

Thailand’s Wanchai Meechai, a senior Tournament Director on the Asian Tour, is on a mission in Ohio, United States this week where he will roam the fairways as a referee at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational starting on Thursday.

Wanchai, 53, was selected by the Asian Tour to officiate in the prestigious World Golf Championships event at the Firestone Country Club. It will be his first experience in the US.

The well-respected Thai has previously attended the British Open in 2004 and the opportunity to officiate at this week’s event will enable him to exchange ideas with many other rules officials from the various international golf tours and organisations.

His Ohio outing comes three weeks after another Asian Tour referee, Kamarulzaman Mohd Din of Malaysia made his way to Scotland for the recently concluded British Open in Carnoustie. Kamarulzaman was given the honour of officiating the final pairing of Sergio Garcia and KJ Choi in the third round.

With an increasing number of Asian Tour referees on the international front, the Tour’s Executive Chairman Kyi Hla Han believes this will benefit the development of golf in the region, as well as in Thailand where Wanchai is amongst its leading golf referees.

“More of our Tour officials are taking on important roles in major events which will inevitably contribute towards the growth of the game. Wanchai has over a decade of experience as a rules official on the Asian Tour and the opportunity to be involved in a World Golf Championships event will benefit us all.

“Golf is booming in Asia and with our referees making their presence felt at world class events and majors, we also hope to increase the number of highly qualified golf officials,” said Han.

Wanchai’s presence at the Bridgestone Invitational will complement a strong Asian Tour presence in the elite field. His compatriot Thongchai Jaidee will be in action at Firestone, courtesy of his victory at the Volvo Masters of Asia in Bangkok last December.

Other Asian Tour members in this week’s event include Anton Haig of South Africa, Liang Wen-chong of China, who is the current Asian Tour’s UBS Order of Merit leader, and India’s Jeev Milkha Singh, last year’s number one.

August 2, 2007