Announcing the 2016 Aki Cup sponsored by Air Golf

Autumn and cooler weather are just around the corner and it’s time to think of golf again. And with that in mind, we're happy to announce the return of a great golf points rally tournament--the 2016 Aki Cup sponsored by Air Golf!

If you aren't familiar with the Aki Cup, it's a FedExCup style points rally of eight organized golf events over two to three months. Points are assigned for each place for each event. Each player's top five event points will be used for scoring.

This is the third season of the Aki Cup sponsored by Air Golf, first won by Jensen Junn in 2013.  The following year, Savuth Kong was the champion. In 2015 the Aki Cup wasn't held, but it's back for 2016. 

This year will include some very nice prizes, courtesy of our sponsor, Air Golf. The 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place finishers will receive a choice of prizes including a full iron set, a driver or a restaurant gift certificate. 

And if you aren’t already familiar with Air Golf, they have a great online golf magazine—lots of good information on golf and lifestyle in Japan. You should definitely check it out! 

The 2016 Aki Cup will include events organized by Chris Hurquin, Yasu Iwatani, and the return of the popular World Cup tournament, organized by Steve Novosel. Moreover, we'll have some new courses on the schedule.

The eight event season starts September 24th, and the schedule, so far, looks like this:

Aki 1—24 Sep (Sat) Taiheiyo Mashiko GC

Aki 2—01 Oct (Sat) World Cup at Windsor Park GC

Aki 3—10 Oct (Mon) Kasumidai CC 

Aki 4—22 Oct (Sat) Sakura GC

Aki 5—October: TBA

Aki 6—5 November: Murasakizuka GC

Aki 7—November: TBA

Aki 8—26 Nov (Sat) Tsutsujigaoka CC

Sign-ups will be available on Facebook at Tokyo Golfers.

Looking forward to a great Aki Cup season—hope to see you out there!

What is the Aki Cup sponsored by Air Golf?

A FedExCup style points rally of eight golf events organized. Points are assigned for each place for each event. Each player's top five event points will be used for scoring.

Season: Eight golf events starting September 24th. 

Ceremony and Prizes: The awards ceremony will be after the round of the last event. Prizes awarded for 1st, 2nd and 3rd places.  

Cost: ¥0

Entry: Automatic when you participate in a designated event.

Points: Regular events (1-7, with at least 10 golfers): 1st-500, 2nd-350, 3rd-250, 4th-200, 5th-150, 6th-140, 7th-130, 8th-120, 9th-110, 10th-100, 11th-90, 12th-80, 13th-70, 14th-60, 15th and lower-50. Events with 6-9 golfers will get 75% of points.  Events with less than 6 golfers will not qualify for points.

Event 8 (finale): double points(200%) for each place.

Ties combine the points of the top tied place plus each of the next lower point places and are divided by the number that are tied. (Example: 3 people tied for 4th place is 200 + 150 + 140 / 3 = 163 for each.)

Handicap bonus points: In order to encourage more accurate handicapping, golfers with a current JGA handicap will receive 30 points per event. Golfers with another verifiable handicap (such as Golfshot) will get 10 bonus points. Note: You can receive a free JGA handicap at Gora Rakuten.

Rules: 1. First time players without a recognized handicap will have one determined by the organizer. 2. Day of play rulings and any discrepancies decided by the organizer. 3. You must try to have fun!