Golf-South Korea and New Zealand to host Asia-Pacific amateur

Oct 1 (Reuters) - The Asia-Pacific Amateur Championships, which provides the winner with an invite to the U.S. Masters, will be held in South Korea and New Zealand for the first time, organisers said on Thursday. The Jack Nicklaus Golf Club to the west of Seoul, which hosts the Presidents Cup next week, will stage the AAC from Oct. 6-9 next year, with the Royal Wellington Golf Club hosting the 2017 championships. The winner of the tournament also gets a spot in the British Open qualifying series as does the runner-up. The seventh edition of the AAC begun in Hong Kong on Thursday, with Australian Antonio Murdaca defending the title he won in Melbourne a year ago. (Writing by Patrick Johnston in Singapore; editing by Amlan Chakraborty)