New Zealand lead Nomura Cup

New Zealands leading amateurs have got off to a stunning start at the 2017 Nomura Cup to be tied for the lead with Thailand.

The team of Daniel Hillier, Denzel Ieremia, Ryan Chisnall and Luke Brown enjoyed the day one conditions at Sungai Long Golf & Country Club to be two shots clear of second place.

With the best three of four rounds taken, it was Hillier (-5), Ieremia (-4) and Chisnall (-3) who combined to get the week off to a near-perfect start for the Kiwis.

FULL TEAM & INDIVIDUAL LEADERBOARD

With his round of five-under par, which included five birdies and an eagle, Hillier also sits in second place on the individual leaderboard.

The 19-year-old Wellingtonian is three shots behind Thailands standout performer Kammalas Namuangruk, who shot a remarkable eight-under par round.

New Zealands leading amateur Nick Voke was deemed unavailable for the event after advancing through to the second stage of Web.com Tour qualifying with an amazing victory last month.

This meant that Ieremia had to step in to take his place and the former Waikato representative has done that and more with a clinical start of four-under to be tied third in the individual standing, just one behind Hillier.

Further information on the Nomura Cup

The Nomura Cup, is a biennial competition rotated among the Asia-Pacific region. It was first held in the Philippines in 1963.

Conducted by the Asia-Pacific Golf Confederation, each team consists of four male players, contesting 18 holes of stroke play for four days. In each round, the lowest three individual scores constitutes the team score for the round.

The four-day (72-hole) total is the teams score for the championship. The winning team receives the Nomura Cup, which was named after Shun Nomura, the former Vice-President of the Japan Golf Association who donated the Cup.

The Nomura Cup will return to Malaysia in 2017 for the first time after 24 years.

Malaysia have hosted the biennial tournament twice previously in 1977 and 1993 since its inception in 1963. Both times the tournament was held at the Royal Selangor Golf Club (RSGC).

- This story has been automatically published using a media release from Golf NZ