Singapore: Laguna National Golf Resort Club is offering top professional and amateur golfers the chance to play their way onto one of the golfing world’s biggest stages.

Via a pre-Christmas open qualifier, three golfers will earn the right to brush shoulders with some of the world’s best-known players when the inaugural DP World Tour-sanctioned Singapore Classic is staged at Laguna National from February 9-12, 2023.

The Singapore Classic 2023 – Open Qualifier will be played on Laguna National’s award-winning Classic Course on December 23.

Kevin Kwee, Executive Director at Laguna National, said: “We are delighted to have the opportunity to host this qualifier which will have three competitors winning coveted spots in the Singapore Classic.

“We are staunch supporters of developing golf talent in Singapore and are committed to give our local and regional golfers the chance to compete with some of the best players in the world.”

After an official practice round on December 22, a total of 90 participants will take part in an 18-hole qualifier that will see the top two overall competitors and the top Singaporean amateur gaining entry into the US$2 million Singapore Classic.

Kwee added: “To encourage our local stable of talent, we are subsidising entry fees by 50% for all Singaporeans that enter the qualifier and will be allowing access to the Classic Course for practice rounds in the weeks leading up to the event.

“Open qualifiers are the truest way to award invitations for a golf championship because the winners simply out-perform their fellow competitors. The most deserving golfers will relish this chance to play in a DP World Tour event and we feel it adds a great local flavour to what will be a very competitive field.

“If our players perform well, we could see a situation where all three spots go to Singaporeans. What a great story that would be.”

A Facility Member of the Asian Golf Industry Federation, Laguna National hosted the Singapore Masters from 2002 to 2007 and was the scene of the most memorable moment in the country’s golfing history, when home favourite Mardan Mamat lifted the trophy in 2006.

The Singapore Classic 2023 – Open Qualifier is open to all professional golfers and all amateur golfers with a handicap index of 1.0 or below (as of November 1). Participants must be 16 years of age or older as of December 22.

Registration can be made through the event’s dedicated portal at www.golfgenius.com/ggid/sgclassicq/register