[Photo: Asia-Pacific Amateur]
Australia’s top-ranked amateur Harry Takis says the step up to US college golf is how he met Xander Schauffele’s putting coach and he’s feeling confident of rolling in enough putts to contend at the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship in Dubai.
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The Brisbane product is a sophomore at San Diego State University, the former college of two-time major winner Schauffele. Takis has excelled to the point of being named the 2024-25 Mountain West Freshman of the Year and an 2024-25 all-Mountain West player. He also won the Singapore Open Amateur Championship this year.
Takis, No.90 on the World Amateur Golf Ranking, said being exposed to the very best amateur golfers in the US on an almost weekly basis was the best preparation for the Asia-Pacific Amateur, where the winner will be invited to the 2026 Masters at Augusta National and the 154th Open at Royal Birkdale.
“Just playing against the best in the world every week is a good start [to your amateur career],” Takis, 20, said. “Our [men’s team head golf coach Ryan Donovan] has seen a couple of major winners [come through the school] and a lot of really good players.
“In my first year, [Schauffele] was out at The Farms Golf Club, where we play quite a bit, so I met him a few times and he introduced me to my putting coach now, Derek Uyeda [who is also Schauffele’s putting coach].
“[US college golf] open doors, I think. You meet new people, get connections. I wouldn’t have met Derek if I didn’t go to college and I wouldn’t have met Justin [Hastings, a former San Diego State golfer who won the 2025 Latin American Amateur to get into the 2025 Masters]. He gives me a lot of advice.”
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After several practice rounds at the Emirates Golf Club, the annual host of the DP World Tour’s Dubai Desert Classic each January, Takis has a gameplan to get himself in contention.
“There are a lot of blind tee shots so I’m trying to pick lines, buildings and skyscrapers to aim at, different trees, so, I think that’s a big part of it,” he said. “There’s not too much in the approach shots, but if you can pick your lines off the tee, commit to them, it makes it a lot easier.”
The Asia-Pacific Amateur was jointly created in 2009 by Augusta National and the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews (R&A), as an initiative to grow golf around the world. The Asia-Pacific winner is offered a spot in the following year’s Masters and Open Championship.
Takis said it would be a dream to play in two majors while still in college.
“It’s hard not to think about; it’s definitely when I’m here to do,” Takis said. “You don’t get anything for second. I think it’s what you aspire to do. We grow up watching the Masters. I remember being eight years old watching the 2013 Masters [when countryman Adam Scott became the first Australian to win at Augusta]. There’s nothing more you want to do as a golfer, but you just have to try and put that aside and do your work this week.”
AUSSIES AT THE ASIA-PACIFIC AMATEUR
Harry Takis
Age: 20
World Amateur Golf Ranking: 90
Home club: Royal Queensland Golf Club
Previous AAC results: T41 (2023)
Best 2025 result: Won Singapore Open Amateur Championship
Kayun Mudadana
Age: 19
World Amateur Golf Ranking: 221
Home club: New South Wales Golf Club, NSW
Previous AAC results: First appearance
Best 2025 result: Won South Australia Amateur Classic
Declan O’Donovan
Age: 22
World Amateur Golf Ranking: 229
Home club: Avondale Golf Club, NSW
Previous AAC results: First appearance
Best 2025 result: Won Canadian Men’s Amateur Championship
Billy Dowling
Age: 20
World Amateur Golf Ranking: 241
Home club: The Brisbane Golf Club, Qld
Previous AAC results: 10th (2023), T37 (2024)
Best 2025 result: 2nd, Scottish Men’s Open Championship
Chase Oberle
Age: 17
World Amateur Golf Ranking: 467
Home club: The Brisbane Golf Club, Qld
Previous AAC results: First appearance
Best 2025 result: Won Queensland Junior Amateur
Graham Hourn
Age: 57
World Amateur Golf Ranking: 542
Home club: Kingaroy Golf Club, Qld
Previous AAC results: First appearance
Best 2025 result: Won Queensland Senior Men’s Amateur Championship
Jye Halls
Age: 20
World Amateur Golf Ranking: 562
Home club: New South Wales Golf Club, NSW
Previous AAC results: First appearance
Best 2025 result: Won Australian Men’s Amateur Championship
